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111 yc inhabitant of the world, and dwellers on the earth, Sec Yc, when He
liftcth up an Ensinn on the Mountains.— Isaiah win, 3.
Vol. I.
JANUARY, 1853.
No. 1.
PROSPECTUS OF "THE SEER.1'
THE SEER is a title assumed for j
this Periodical in commemoration of:
Joseph Smith, the great Seer of the,
last days, who, as an instrument in the
hands of the Lord, laid the foundation
of the Kingdom of God, preparatory
to the second coming of the Messiah
to reinn with universal dominion over
all the Earth.
The pages of the Seer will be most- j
lv occupied with original matter, ilUi-
cidating the doctrines of the Church
of Jesu« Christ of Latter Day Saints, as
revealed in both ancient and modern
Revelations. The Prophecies, relat-
ing to the grand and remarkable events
of the last days, will be carefully ex-
amined and unfolded. The doctrine
of Celestial Marriage, or Marriage
for all eternity, as believed and prac-
tised by the Saints in Utah Territory,
will be clearly explained. The views
of the Saints in regard to the ancient
Patriarchal Order of Matrimony, or
Plurality of Wives, as developed in
a Revelation, given through Joseph,
the Seer, will be fully published.
The Celestial origin and pre-existence
of the spirits of men — their first estate
or probation in a previous world — the
great benefits, derived by descending
from Heaven, and entering fleshly ta-
bernacles, and keeping the laws of
their second estate, and their final re-
demption and exaltation, as Gods, in
their future state— are subjects which
will, more or less, occupy the pages
of the Seer.
It is hoped that the President elect,
the Hon. Members of Congress, the
Heads of the various Departments of
the National Government, the high-
minded Governors and Legislative As-
semblies of the several States and
Territories, the Ministers of every Re-
ligious denomination, and all the in-
habitants of this great Republic, will
patronize this Periodical, that through
the medium of our own writings they
may be more correctly and fully in-
formed in regard to the peculiar doc-
trines, views, practices, and expecta-
tions of the Saints who now flourish
in the Mountain Territory, and who
will everjtually flourish over the whole
Eaith. And we say to all nations,
subscribe for the Seer, and we pro-
mise you a True and Faithful descrip-
tion of all the principal features, char-
acterizing this great and last " dispen-
sation of the fulness of times."
The Seer will be published Month-
ly, at $1 per annum, in advance.
ORSON PRATT, Editor,
Washington City, D. C.
December 21, 1852.
2 FIRST ElPSTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
First Epistle of Orson Pratt to the Saints scattered throughout the United-
Slates and British Provinces— Greeting :
Dear Brethern : Having been ap-
pointed by the First Presidency with
the sanction of a special Conference
of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, held in Great Salt
Lake City on the 28th of August,
1852, to preside over the Saints
throughout the United States and
British Provinces in North America ;
in accordance therewith, I have left
my famdy and my home in the peace-
ful V«lC3 V»f tiro OTCTT.nttt.Lna • anrl, after
crossing the wild desert plains which
intervene between the happy land of
the Saints and the Gentile lands of
strife and wickedness, I find myself
within the field of my mission: that
the Saints may more fully learn the
nature of my mission among them, I
will insert the following:
LETTER OF APPOINTMENT.
This certifies that Professor Orson
Pratt of the University of Deseret,
one of the Apostles of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saitns, is
appointed by us, with the sanction of
the special Conference, convened in
this city on the twenty-eighth day of
August, A. D. One Thousand Eight
Hundred and Fifty-two, to preside
over the affairs of the Church through-
out the United States and the British
Provinces in North America; and
also, to write and Publish Periodicals,
Pamphlets, Books, &c, illustrative of
the principles and doctrines of the
Church, and to do all other things
necessary for the advancement of the
work of the Lord among all nations
Elder Pratt is authorized and re-
quired to receive and collect tithing of
the Saints through all his field of labors:
and we request the Elders and other
officers and members of the Church
to give diligent heed to his counsels
as the words of life and salvation, and
assist him to funds to enable him to
travel, print, establish book agencies,
and perform all other duties of his
calling, and the blessings of our Father
in Heaven shall rest upon them.
Emigrating Fund Company, and is
hereby appointed and authorized to
act as Traveling- Agent in the United
States and British Provinces in North
America, and he is instructed to col-
lect, and disburse and aid to promote
the emigration of poor Saints to the
valleys of the mountains.
Bro. Orson Pratt is too well and
favorably known to need any testimo-
nial further than his own presence and
acquaintance to secure the esteem and
conftuento of all among whom his lot
may be cast. His acquirements and
attainments are of the highest order,
and possessing, as he eminently does,
every requisite of an honorable and
high-minded gentleman, we take great
pleasure in recommending him to the
kindness and consideration of all
good men.
Brigham Youmg,
HEBER C. KlMBALE,
Willard Richards,
Presidency of said Church.
Signed and sealed at Great Salt
Lake City, U. T., Sept. 13, 1852.
The principal features of my mis-
sion are contained in the foregoing
letter; but ever feeling a deep interest
in the welfare of the saints, you will
permit me, through the medium of
this epistle to impart to you such in-
structions as the Holy Spirit may
whisper to my mind. I wish to ask
the saints who still remain scattered
abroad, Do you enjoy as great a meas-
ure of the Spirit of God as when you
were first baptized into this kingdom ?
Or are your minds barren ? Your un-
derstandings unfruitful ? Your souls in
darkness ? and your feelings cold and
indifferent towards the great work
which you have embraced, and which
once made you joyful and happy ? If
this be your condition, it is of the
utmost importance that you know the
causes of these unhappy changes in
your feelings. Is it because the Lord
has changed and forgotten to be gra-
cious ? Is it because the fulness of
Bro. Pratt is one of the Perpetual his gospel does not produce the same
FIRST EPISTLC OF ORSON PRATT.
effects or happiness now, as it did in j
ancient times ? Is it because the Book
of Mormon, or any of the Revelations
given through Joseph, the Seer, have
failed to accomplish those purposes j
for which they were sent? Is it be- j
cause the saints have passed through
great tribulation, and have been driven |
from city to city, from State to State, j
and finally banished from this great
Republic to seek a home in the wild
glens of the Rocky Mountains? Is it
because God has forsaken his people
and will no longer show them mercy? j
No, verily, no; none of these causes
have conspired to drive away the
Comforter from your hearts, or to en-
velope you in darkness, or to make
you cold, and indifferent, and unhappy.
But the principal cause of your un-
pleasant and unhappy state of mind,
is your own disobedience to one of
the most important commands which
God has given to his people in this
last dispensation, namely : to flee
out of Babylon, and gather themselves
together, and stand in holy places,
that they may escape the plagues and
desolating scourges which the Lord
has decreed to pour out upon the na-
tions, because of their great sins and
wickedness which continually cry
unto the heavens for vengeance. Can
any saint neglect so important a com-
mand, when it is within their power
to keep it, and still be justified, and
retain the peaceable Spirit of the Lord ?
No: the Spirit of the Lord is grieved
with such, and will, by degrees, with-
draw from them, and they will grope
in the dark, and be liable to be
overcome by temptation, and be led
captive by the will of the Devil :
such ones, not having the Spirit that
leads into all truth, are liable to be de-
ceived by the doctrines of men and
Devils; for the Lord will frequently
suffer strong delusions to overpower
such that their damnation may be
the greater, because they profess to
know the Lord, and yet will not obey
Him. Remember the word of the
Lord which came by the mouth of
Joseph, the Seer, saying, "Hearken
and hear, 0 ye my people, saith the
Lord and your God, ye whom I de-
light to bless with the greatest bles-
sings, ye that hear me; and ye that
hear me not, will I curse, that have
professed my name, with the heaviest
of all cursings." Have you hearken-
ed to the word of God ? Have you
exerted yourselves to the utmost to
flee from Babylon ? If not, no won-
der that you are in darkness — no
wonder that the peaceable Spirit has
been grieved from your bosom. Re-
pent, therefore, speedily, and obey the
voice of the Lord and gather your-
selves among his people, lest the de-
stroyer lay hold upon you in an hour
you think not, and you perish in dis-
obedience, and your name be cut oft'
from the generations of Zion. If you
will awake from the slumber of death
which has seized upon you, and use
every exertion to obey the voice of the
Lord your God, His anger shall be
turned away from you, and He will
show you mercy, and His Spirit shall
be restored unto you again, and His
hand shall be stretched out over you
to shield and protect you, and to
gather you even as a hen galhereth
her chickens under her wings to save
them from the approaching storms;
so shall the Lord your God save you,
and comfort your hearts, and make
you to sing with joy and gladness, and
you shall be His people, and He wi 1
be the Lord your God. Awake then,
0 awake! flee to the mountains for
refuge ! For a day of trouble is at
hand — a day of fierce battle and war —
a day of mourning and lamentation
for widows and orphans whose hus-
bands and fathers shall fall in battle :
it shall be the day of the Lord's con-
troversy for His people — a day of re-
compence for the innocent blood of
prophets and saints which has been
shed among this nation.
The time is drawing nigh for
these things to be fulfilled ; for this na-
tion have rejected the Book of Mor-
mon, which the Lord brought forth
by the mininistering of Angels, and
sent unto them by the hands of His
servants; they have rejected the
Church of Christ which the Lord
God in mercy established in their
midst ; they have suffered His Saints-
FIRST EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
to be trampled upon by mobs, to be j
scourged, afflicted, abused, driven from
their homes, deprived of the most sa-
cred rights of American citizenship,
and finally to be banished from their
midst, and obliged to seek; refuge in
the solitary wilds and deserts of the
Rocky Mountains. They have closed
their "doors, their synagogues, their
eyes, and their hearts against one of
the most glorious and important mes-
sages that ever saluted the ears of
mortals ; they have suffered one of
the greatest, most renowned, and most
celebrated prophets that ever lived
upon the earth to be murdered in cold
blood, without bringing the murderers
to justice; they have suffered scores
of innocent men, women, and chil-
dren to be tortured, shot down, and
butchered, in open day, by beings who
afterwards boasted of their horrid
deeds, and yet, no means are institu-
ted to bring these guilty wretches
to punishment. Does not the blood
of the Saints and of prophets cry
aloud to the Heavens for vengeance ?
And shall this nation escape the judg-
ments decreed against them ? And
will the Almighty forbear to execute
the vengeance written ? Verily No.
For in December, 1833, the word of
the Lord came through Joseph, the
Seer, concerning His Saints who had
been driven from their homes in Jack-
son Co., Missouri, saying :
" Let them importune at the feet of
the judge ; and if he heed them not,
let them importune at the feet of the
Governor; and if the Governor heed
them not, let them importune at the
feet of the President •, and if the Presi-
dent heed them not, then will the
Lord arise and come forth out of His
hiding place, and in His fury vex the
nation, and in His hot displeasure,
and in His fierce anger, in His time,
will cut off those wicked, unfaithful,
and unjust stewards, and appoint them
their portion among hypocrites and
unbelievers ; even in outer darkness,
where there is weeping, and wailing,
and gnashing of teeth. Pray ye, there-
fore, that their ears may be opened
unto your cries, that 1 be may merci-
ful unto them, that these things may
not come upon them." (Book of Cov-
enants, page 282, English edition.)
For nineteen years the Saints have
importuned, according to this com-
mandment. But have they obtained
redress? No. The Judges and the
Covernor of the State of Missouri, in-
stead of redressing our wrongs, suf-
fered us, under the force of arms, to-
be killed, immured in dungeons, and
banished from the State. The Presi-
dent, instead of restoring us to our
homes and lands which we purchased
of the National Government, suffered
us to be deprived of the dearest rights
of American citizenship, and to be
banished by the force of arms from
this great Republic to seek refuge
among hostile savages in the barren
wastes of the snowy mountains. The
cries and importunities of the Saints
for redress and protection, were met
with the cold reply, "Your cause is
just, but we have no power to protect
you." The Saints have long cried
unto the Lord that He would open
the ears and soften the hearts of the
Rulers and Authorities of our country
that they might execute justice and
right in behalf of the suffering, down-
trodden, exiled citizens of this great
Republic, who have been, by the force
of arms, driven into banishment. Bufc
their, ears are closed to our cries, their
eyes are shut to our sufferings, and
their hearts hardened against the
mourning and lamentations of wid-
ows and orphans, whose husbands
and fathers have been cruelly mar-
tyred for the testimony of Jesus, and
for the word of God. The cup of
the iniquity of this nation is nearly
full ; and woe unto them, when the
time shall come that they are fully
ripe in their abominations, for they
shall utterly perish from off the face
of this choice land, and the land shall
be left empty and desolate — yea, their
cities shall be destroyed, and their
houses shall be desolate. " For the
Lord shall rise up as in mount Pera-
zim ; He shall be wroth as in the val-
ley of Gibeon, that He may do His
work, His strange work \ and bring
FIRST EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
to pass His act, His strange act.1' (Tsa.
28 : 21.) Yea, He shall destroy and
lay waste, and none shall hinder.
J will again say to the Saints scat-
tered abroad in this land, do you wish
deliverance in the day of trouble? If
you do, arise and flee to the moun-
tains, and prepare for the day of the
Lord, for it is near. Let all the chil-
dren of Zion go up into the moun-
tains ; for thus said ihe prophet, Isaiah,
in his prophetic exhortation to the
Zion of the last days, " 0 Zion, that
bringcsl good ridings, get thee up into
the high mountain.'"* For " behold, the
Lord God will come with strong hand,
and His arm shall rule for Him : be-
hold, His reward is with Him and His
work before Him. He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd: He shall gather
the lambs with His arm, and carry
them in flisbosom." (ha. 40:9— 11.")
Isaiah clearly saw that before the sec-
ond coming of the Lord, to rule uwith
a strong hand," that Zion would be
required to "get up into the high
mountain." Many of the children of
Zion have fulfilled this exhortation of
Isaiah ; and I now say to the balance of
her children, "GET THEE UP INTO
THE HIGH MOUNTAIN"," and sanc-
tify yourselves that you may be as an
ensign upon the mountains — a standard
for the people unto whom the meek and
virtuous of all nations shall flow. For
thus said the prophet Laiah, "He shall
set up an ensign for the nations, and
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel,
and gather together the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the
earth." (Isaiah 11: 12.) This en-
sign remember was not to be set up
in Palestine, where Isaiah lived at the
time he delivered the prophecy, but it
was to be set up "from afar," or at a
great distance from that country: hence,
he says, again, "And He will lift up an
ensign to the nations from far, and
will hiss unto them from the end of the
earth : and behold, they shall come
with speed swiftly." (Isa. 5: 26.)
Four things are clearly predicted in
this passage; — First, An ensign is to
be lifted up to the nations by the Lord,
Himself; secondly, this ensign was to
be lifted up, not in the country where
Isaiah dwelt, but in a far country ;
thirdly, when this ensign should be set
up, the Lord should hiss unto the na-
tions, not from Palestine, but "-from
the ends of the earth," clearly indi-
cating a message that should hiss forth
from that distant country for the bene-
fit of all nation?; and lastly, a people
from among these nations, should
"come with speed swiftly," not by the
slow process of travelling to which
ihe ancients were accustomed, but
Hhey shall comr with speed swiftly?*
indicating, no doubt, the powerful
agency of steam by which that people
should be gathered from among the
nations speedily stcifth; unto the stand-
ard or ensign lifted up. This standard
or ensign was not to be raised among
Judah or Israel, but among the Gen-
tiles, for the benefit of both Israel and
Judah; for then, as Isaiah says, in the
foregoing quotation, both Israel and
Judah will be gathered. That this
standard was to be raised among the
Gentiles, instead of Israel, is clearly
predicted in another passage, as fol-
lows : — "Thus saith the Lord God,
behold, I will lift up mine hand to the
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the
people : and they shall bring thy sons
in their arms, and thy daughters shall
be carried upon their shoulders."
(Isaiah 49 : 22.) That this standard
or ensign was not only to be set up by
the Lord God, among the Gentiles, but
that it was also to be lifted up on the
mountains is also predicted by Isaiah
as follows: — "All ye inhabitants of
the world, and dwellers on the earth,
SEE YE, WHEN HE L1FTETH UP
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUN-
TAINS; and when He bloweth a
trumpet, hear ye.'' For afore the har-
vest, when the bud is perfect, and the
sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He shall both cut off the sprigs
with pruning hooks, and take away
and cut down the branches. They
shall be left together unto the fowls
of the mountains, and to the beasts of
the earth ; and the fowls shall summer
upon them, and all the beasts of the
earth shall winter upon them. In that
time shall the present be brought unto
the Lord of Hosts of a people scat-
FIRST EPISTLE OF ORSON FRATT.
tered a;ul pealed, and from a people
terrible from their beginning hitherto ;
a nation meted out and trodden under
footy whose land the rivers have spoiled,
to the place of the name of the Lord
of Host?, the Mount Zion." (Isaiah
18 : 3, 5, 6, 7.) The placeT then, for
the lifting up of die ensign is to be
ucm the mountains^ and that too just
before "the harvest " or the end of the
wicked world, when the Lord is to
destroy a certain nation under the name
of the sour grape, and they are to be
left unbaried for the fowls and !>eas;s
to summer and winter upon thfttn. It
will be perceived also, that "all the in-
habitants of the world \ and the dwellers
on the ear'th^'1 are called upon to both
see and hear, when the Lord lifts up
that ensign on the mountains.
Under a deep sense of the impor-
tant events which await this genera-
tion, I beg of Zion to bear with me,
while I repeat again the prophetic ex-
hortation of Isaiah—" O Zion, that
bringest good tidings, Get thee up into
the high mountain.'' Tarry not, lest
you fall among the wicked, and are de-
prived of the blessings which the Lord
has decreed to pour out upon Zion.
That Zion was to occupy an eleva-
ted position on the earth, is still fur-
ther evident from the word of the
Lord which came through Joseph,
the Seer, in September, 1831, saying,
" Behold I, the Lord, have made my
church in these last days like unto a
judge sitting on a HILL, or in a HIGH
PLACE, to judge the nations; for
it shall come to pass that the inhabi-
tants of Zion shall judge all things
pertaining to Zion ; and liars and hy-
pocrites shall be proved by them, and
they who are not apostles and prophets
shall be known. And even the bishop,
who is a judge, and his counsellors,
if they are not faithful in their steward-
ships, shall be condemned, and others
shall be planted in their stead •, for,
behold, I say unto you that Zion shall
flourish, and the glory of the Lord
shall be upon her, and she shall be
an Ensign unto the people, and there
shall come unto her out of every na-
tion under Heaven. And the day shall
come when the nations of the earth
shall tremble because of her, and shall
fear because of her terrible ones. Tiie
Lord hath spoken it. Amen." (Book
of Covenants,, page 156.)
In this extract the Lord predicted
that Zion should "be an Ensign unto
the people," " sitting on a hill or in a
High Place/' and that she should
flourish. In another lvvelation, given
through Joseph, the Seer, to James
Covill in January 1831, the Lord says,
uThou art ralhd to labor in my vine-
yard and to build up my church, and
to bring forth Zion, that it may rejoice
upon the HILLS and flourish." (Doc.
and Cov., page 212. And in March,
1831, the word of the L>rd, again,
came unto Joseph, the Seer, saying,
"Before the great day of the Lord
shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the
wilderness, and the Lamanites'' (mean-
ing the American Indians) " shall
blossom as the rose. Zion shall flour-
ish upon the hills, and rejoice upon
the mountains, and shall bo assembled
together unto the placo which I have
appointed." (page 218.) Thus we see
that twenty-two years ago, it was
foretold in great plainness that Zion
should flourish and r^joir-e upon the
hills and mountains ; when these pro-
phecies were given, we did not know,
for many years, how nor when the
Lord intended to fulfil diem, but fif-
teen years after the prediction, the
Lord suffered our enemies to rise
against us, and we were driven by the
force of arms from these States, and
were obliged to flee to the mountains
for refuge ; thus, in an unexpected
manner, Zion is placed in her appro-
priate position, and is truly beginning
to flourish and rejo;ce upon the hills
and mountains according to the pre-
dictions of Joseph, the prophet, and
according to many predictions of the
ancient prophets. O how wonderful
are the dealings of God with His peo-
ple ! And how marvelously does He
fulfil the words of inspiration !
Though the Heavens and Earth pass
away, yet the wo d of the Lord,
spoken through Joseph, the Seer,
shall not pass away, but every jot and
tittle that has not already come to pass,
shall be fulfilled in its time and season.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
The Saints in the States and British
Provinces are respectfully invited to
become subscribers to this periodical,
that through it.* pages they may learn
more perfectly their duties, and have
a knowledge of the times, and seasons,
and purposes of tire Most High in re-
gard to the generation in which they
live. Those who intend emigrating
to the mountains, dining the coming
season, can, by notifying us of their '
intentions, have their paper sent by
the mail to Utah. Wheie there are
branches of the Church, we suggest
that they appoint among themselves
an agent, and have the whole number,
taken in tiie branch, sent in one pack-
age to rheir ?gent; this arrangement i
will save us much trouble which !
would otherwise arise by being obli-
ged 10 forward to each individual. I
The Saints are likewise informed
that we shall have constantly on hand
for sale, at wholesale and retail, all
the various works, mentioned in the
catalogue, published on the last page
of the Seer.
All these publications should be in
the houses of all the saints, and should
be diligently read, that they may be
well instructed in all the great princi-
ples of eernal salvation, that through
their faithfulness to the same they may
enter into the fulness of celestial glory.
With the most anxious desire for your
welfare, I subscribe myself your
humble servant and brother in the
bonds of the gospel Covenant.
ORSON PRATT.
Washington, Dec. 20, 1852.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE:
A REVELATION ON THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER OF MATE DION Y.
OR PLURALITY OF WIVES.
Given to Joseph Smith, tlie Seer, in Nauvoo, July 12/7/, 1843.
1. Verily thus saith the Lord, unto
you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch
as you have enquired of my hand, to
know and understand wherein I the
Lord justified my servants, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob ; as also Moses, David,
and Solomon, my servants, as touching
the principle and doctrineof their having
many wives, and concubines: Behold 1
and lo,I am the Lord thy God, and will
answer thee as touching this matter:
Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive
and obey the instructions which I am
about to give unto you ; for all those,
"who have this law revealed unto them,
must obey the same ; for behold ! I re-
veal unto you a new and an everlasting
covenant, and if ye abide not that cove-
nant, then are ye damned ; for no one
can reject this covenant, and be per-
mitted to enter into my glory ; for all
who will have a blessing at my hands,
shall abide the law which was appoint-
ed for that blessing, and the conditions
thereof, as was instituted from before
ihe foundations of the world : and as
pertaining to the new and everlasting
covenant, it was instituted for the ful-
ness of my glory ; and he that re-
ceiveth a fulness thereof, must, and
shall abide the law, or he shall be
damned, saith the Lord God.
2. And verily I say unto you, that
the conditions of this law are these:
All covenants, contracts, bonds, obli-
gations, oaths, vows, performances,
connections, associations, or expecta-
tions, that are not made, and entered
into, and sealed, by the Holy Spirit of
promise, of him who is annointed, both
as well for time and for all eternity,
and that too most holy, by revelation
and commandment, through the medi-
um of mine annointed, whom I have
appointed on the earth to hold this
power, (and I have appointed unto my
servant Joseph to hold this power in
the last days, and there is never but
one on the earth at a time, on whom
this power and the keys of this priest-
hood are conferred,) are of no effica-
cy, virtue, or force, in and after the
s
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
resurrection from the dead; for all
contracts that are not made unto this
end, have an end when men are dead.
3. Behold ' mine house is a house
of order, saith the Lord God, and not
a house of confusion. Will I accept
of an offering, saith the Lord, that is
not made in my name ! Or, will I
receive at your hands, that which I
have not appointed! And will lap-
point unto you, saith the Lord, except
it be by law, even as I and my Father
ordained unto you, before the world
was! I am the Lord thy God, and I
give unto you this commandment, that
no man shall come unto the Father,
but by me, or by my word which is
my law, saith the Lord ; and every-
thing that is in the world, whether it
be ordained of men, by thrones, or
principalities, or powers, or things of
name, whatsoever they may be, that
are not by me, or by my word, saith
the Lord, shall be thrown down, and
shall not remain after men are dead,
neither in nor after the resurrection,
saith the Lord your God : for whatso-
ever things remaineth, are by me; and
whatsoever things are not by me, shall
be shaken and destroyed.
4. Therefore, if a man marry him
a wife in the world, and he marry her
not by me, nor by my word ; and he
covenant with her, so long as he is in
the world, and she with him, their
covenant and marriage is not of force
when they are dead, and when they
are out of the world ; therefore, they
are not bound by any law when they
are out of the world; therefore, when
they are out of the world, they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage, but
are appointed angels in heaven, which
angels are ministering servants, to min-
ister for those, who are worthy of a
far more, and an exceeding, and an
eternal weight of glory ; for these
angels did not abide my law, therefore
they cannot be enlarged, but remain
separately and singly, without exalta-
tion, in their saved condition, toall eter-
nity, and from henceforth are not Gods,
but are angels of God forever and ever.
5. And again, verily I say unto you,
if a man marry a wife, and make a
covenant with hei for time, and for all
eternity, if that covenant is not by me7
or by my word, which is my law, and
is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of
promise, through him whom 1 have
anncinted and - appointed unto this
power, then it is not valid, neither of
force, when they are out of the world,
because they are not joined by me,
saith the Lord, neither by my word ;
when they are out of the world, it
cannot be received there, because the
angels and the Gods are appointed
there, by whom they cannot pass ;
they cannot, therefore, inherit my
glory, for my house is a house of or-
der, saith the Lord God.
6. And again, verily I say unto you,
if a man marry a wife by my word,
which is my law, and by the new and
everlasting covenant, and it is sealed
unto them by the Holy Spirit of pro-
mise, by him who is annointed, unto
whom I have appointed this power,
and the keys of this priesthood, and
it shall be said unto them, ye shall
come forth in the first resurrection;
and if it be after the first resur-
rection, in the next resurrection ; and
shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, prin-
cipalities, and powers, dominions, all
heights, and depths, then shall it be
written in the Lamb's Book of Life,
that he shall commit no murder, where-
by to shed innocent blood ; and if ye
abide in my covenant, and commit no
murder whereby to shed innocent
blood, it shall be done unto them in
all things whatsoever my servant hath
put upon them, in time, and through
all eternity ; and shall be of full force
when they are out of the world, and
they shall pass by the angels, and the
Gods, which are set there, to their ex-
altation and glory in all things, as hath
been sealed upon their heads, which
glory shall be a fulness and a continu-
ation of the seeds forever and ever.
7. Then shall they be Gods, be-
cause they have no end ; therefore
shall they be from everlasting to ever-
lasting, because they continue ; then
shall they be above all, because all
things are subject unto them. Then
shall they be Gods, because they have
all power, and the angels are subject
unto them.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
0
8. Verity, verily I say unto you, ex-
cept ye abide my law, ye cannot at-
tain to this glory ; for strait is the
gate, and narrow the way, that leadeth
unto the exalta'ion and continuation
of the lives, and few there be that
find it, because ye receive me not in
the world, neither do ye know me.
But if ye receive me in the world,
then sball ye know me, and shall re-
ceive your exaltation, that where I
am, ye shall be also. This is eter-
nal lives to know the only wise
and true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he bath sent. I am He.
Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad
is the gate, and wir'e the way that
leadeth to the deaths ; and many there
are that go in thereat; because they
receive me not, neither do they abide
in my law.
9. Verily, verily I say unto you, if
a man marry a wife according to my
word, and they are sealed by the Holy
Spirit of promise, according to mine
appointment, and he or she shall com-
mit any sin or transgression of the
new and everlasting covenant what-
ever, and all manner of blasphemies,
and if they commit no murder, where-
in they shed innocent blood, — yet
they shall come forth in the first resur-
rection, and enter into their exaltation,
but they shall be destroyed in the
flesh, and shall be delivered unto the
buffetings of Satan, unto the day of
redemption, saith the Lord God.
10. The blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost, which shall not be for-
given in the world, nor out of the
world, is in that ye commit murder,
wherein ye shed innocent blood, and
assent unto my death, after ye have
received my new and everlasting
covenant, saith the Lord God; and he
that abideth not this law, can in no-
wise enter into my glory, but shall be
damned, saith the Lord.
11. I am the Lord thy God, and
will give unto thee the law of my
Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by
me, and my Father, before the world
was. Abraham received all things,
whatsoever he received, by revela-
tion and commandment, by my word,
saith the Lord, and hath entered into
his exaltation, and sitteih upon his
throne.
12. Abraham received promises
concerning his seed, and of the fruit
of his loins, — from whose loins ye
are, viz, my servant Joseph, — which
were to continue, so long as they were
in the world; and as touching Abra-
ham and his seed, out of the world,
they should continue ; both in the
world and out of the world should they
continue as innumerable as the stars;
or, if ye were to count the sand upon
the sea-shore, ye could not number
them. This promise is yours, also,
because ye are of Abraham, and the
promise was made unto Abraham,
and by this law are the continuation
of the works of my Father, wherein
he glorifieth himself. Go ye. there-
fore, and do the works of Abraham ;
enter ye into my law, and ye shall be
saved. But if ye enter not into my
law, ye cannot receive the promises
of my Father, which he made unto
Abraham.
13. God commanded Abraham, and
Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, to
wife. And why did she do it? Be-
cause this was the law, and from Ha-
gar sprang many people. This,
therefore, was fulfilling, among other
things, the promises. Was Abra-
ham, therefore, under condemnation ?
Verily, I say unto you, Nay; for I the
Lord commanded if. Abraham was
commanded to offer his son Isaac;
nevertheless, it was written thou
shalt not kill. Abraham however,
did not refuse, and it was accounted
unto him for righteousness.
14. Abiaham received concubines,
and they bare him children, and it
was accounted unto him for righteous-
ness, because they were given unto
him, and he abode in my law: as
Isaac also, and Jacob did none other
things than that which they 'were
commanded ; and because they did
none other things than that which
they were commanded, they have en-
tered into their exaltation, according
to the promises, and sit upon thrones;
and are not angels, but are Gods.
David also received many wives and
concubines, as also Solomon, and
10
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
Moses my servant ; as also many the heavens ; and whosesoever sins
others of my servants, from the be-
ginning of creation until this time; and
in nothing did they sin, save in those
things which they received not of n e
15. David's wives and concubines
were given unto him, of me, by the
hand of Nathan, my servant, and
others of the prophets who had the
keys of this power ; and in none of
these things did he sin against me,
save in the case of Uriah and his
wife ; and, therefore, he hath fallen
from his exaltation, and received his
portion ; and he shall not
them out of the world ; for
them unto another, saith the Lord.
16. I am the Lord thy God, and I
gave unto thee, my servant Joseph,
an appointment, and restore all things;
ask what ye will, and it shall be given
unto you, according to my word ; and
as ye have asked concerning adultery,
verily, verily I say unto you, if a man
receiveth a wife in the new and ever-
lasting covenant, and if she be with
another man, and I have not appoint-
ed unto her by the holy annointing,
she hath committed adultery, and
shall be destroyed. If she be not in
the new and everlasting covenant,
and she be with another man, she has
committed adultery ; and if her hus-
band be with another woman, and he
was under a vow, he hath broken his
vow, and hath committed adultery ;
and if she hath not committed adul-
tery, but is innocent, and hath not
broken her vow, and she knoweth it,
and I reveal it unto you, my servant
Joseph, then shall you have power,
by the power of my Holy Priesthood,
to take her, and give her unto him
that hath not committed adultery, but
hath been faithful, for he shall be
made ruler over many ; for I have
conferred upon you the keys and
power of the priesthood, wherein I
restore all things, and make known
unto you, all things, in due time.
17. And verily, verily I say unto
you, that whatsoever you seal on
earth, shall be sealed in heaven ; and
whatsoever you bind on earth, in my
name, an 1 by my word, saith the
Lord, it shall be eternally bound in
you remit on earth, shall be remitted
eternally in the heavens; and whose-
soever sins you retain on earth, shall
be retained in heaven.
18. And again, verily I say, whom-
soever you bless, I will bless ; and
whomsoever you curse, I will curse,
saith the Lord ; for I, the Lord, am
thy God.
19 And again, verily I say unto
you, my servant Joseph, that whatso-
ever you give on earth, and to whom-
soever you give any one on earth, by
inherit! my word, and according to my law,
I gave ! it shall be visited with blessings, and
not cursings, and with my power,
saith the Lord, and shall be without
condemnation on earth, and in hea-
ven ; for I am the Lord thy God, and
will be with thee even unto the end
of the world, and through all eterni-
ty: for verily, I seal upon you, your
exaltation, and prepare a throne for
you in the kingdom of my Father,
with Abraham, your father. Behold,
I have seen your sacrifices, and will
forgive all your sins ; I have seen
your sacrifices, in obedience to that
which I have told you : go, therefore,
and I make a way for your escape, as
I accepted the offering of Abraham,
of his son Isaac.
20. Verily I say unto you, a com-
mandment I give unto mine hand-
maid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom
I have given unto you, that she stay
herself, and partake not of that which
I commanded you to offer unto her ; for
I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you
all, as I did Abraham ; and that I
might require an offering at your
hand, by covenant and sacrifice : and
let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, re-
ceive all those that have been given
unto my servant Joseph, and who are
virtuous and pure before me ; and
those who are not pure, and have said
they were pure, shall be destroyed,
saith the Lord God ; for I am the
Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my
voice ; and I give unto my servant
Joseph, that he shall be made ruler
over many things, for he hath been
faithful over a few things, and from
henceforth I will strengthen him.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
11
21. And I command mine hand-
maid, Emma .Smith, to abide and
cleave unto my servant Joseph, and
to none else. But if she will not
abide this commandment, she shall
be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I
am the Lor I thy God, and will des-
troy her if she abide not in my law;
but if she will not abide th;s com-
mandment, then shall my servant
Joseph do all things for her, even as
he hath said ; and I will bless him,
and multiply him, and give unto him
an hundre I fold in (his world, of fa-
thers a;i '. mothers, brothers and sis-
ters, houses and lands, wives and
children, and crowns of eternal lives
in the eternal worlds. And again,
verily I say, let mine handmaid for-
give my servant Joseph his trespasse ,
and then shall she be forgiven her
trespasses, wherein she hath tres-
passed against me ; and I the Lord
thy God will bless her, and multiply
her, anil make her heart to rejoice.
22. And again, I say, let not my
servant Joseph put his property out
of his hands, lest an enemy come and
destroy him, for Satan seeketh to des-
troy ; for lam the Lord thy God, and
he is my servant; and behold ! and
lo, I am with him, as I was with Abra-
ham, thy father, even unto his exalta-
tion and glory.
23. Now as touching the law of the
priesthood, there are many things per-
tabling thereunto. Verily, if a man be
called of my Father, as was Aaron, by
mine own voice, and by the voice of
him that sent me, and I have endowed
him with the keys of the power of this
priesthood, if he do anything in my
name, and according to my law, and by
my word, he will not commit sin, and I
will justify him. Let no one, there-
fore, set on my servant Joseph ; for I
will justify him ; for he shall do the
sacrifice which I require at his hands,
for his transgressions, saith the Lord
your God.
24. And again, as pertaining to the
law of the priesthood ; — if any man
espouse a virgin, and desire to es-
pouse another, and the first give her
consent ; and if he espouse the sec-
ond, and they are virgins, and have
vowed to no other man, then is he
justified; he cannot commit adultery,
for they are given unto him ; for he
cannot commit adultery with that,
thai belongeth unto him, and to none
else: and if he have ten virgins
given unto him by this law, he can-
not commit adultery ; for they belong
to him ; and they are given unto
him; — therefore is he justified. Hut
if one, or either of the ten virgins,
alter she is espoused, shall be with
another man, she has committed adul-
tery, and shall be .1 (stroye I : for they
I are given unto him to multiply and
replenish the earth, according to my
i commandment, and to fulfil the pro-
! mise which was given by my Father
I before the foundation of the world :
I and for their exaltation in the eternal
I worlds, that they may bear the souls
of men ; for herein is the work of
my Father continued, that he may be
glorified.
25. And again, verily, verily I say
unto you, if any man have a tvife who
holds the keys of this power, and he
teaches unto her the law of my priest,
hood, as pertaining to ihe^e things ;
then shall she believe, and administer
unto him, or she shall be destroyed,
saith the Lord your God ; for I will
destroy her; for I will magnify my
name upon all those who receive and
abide in my law. Therefore, it shall
be lawful in me, if she receive not
this law, for him to receive all things,
whatsoever I the Lord his God will
give unto him, because she did not
believe and administer unto him, ac-
cording to my word ; and she then
becomes the transgressor, and he is
exempt from the law of Sarah, who
administered unto Abraham accord-
ing to the law, when I commanded
Abraham to take Hagar to wife. —
And now. as pertaining to this law, —
verily, verily I say unto you, I will
reveal more unto you, hereafter ;
therefore, let this suffice for the pre-
sent. — Behold, I am Alpha and
Omega : — Ameit. "
PLURALITY OF WIVES is a doc-
trine very popular among most of
mankind at the present day. It is
12
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
practiced by the most powerful nations
of Asia and Africa, and by numerous
nations, inhabiting the Islands of the
sea, and by the Aboriginal nations of
the great Western Hemisphere. The
one wife system is confined principally
to a few small nations, inhabiting
Europe and to those who are of Eu-
ropean origin, inhabiting America.
It is estimated by the most able his-
torians of our day that about four-fifths
of the population of the globe, be-
lieve and practice, according to their
respective laws, the doctrine of a Plu-
rality of Wives. If the popularity of
a doctrine is in proportion to the num-
bers who believe in it, then it follows
that the Plurality system is four times
more popular among the inhabitants
of the earth, than the one ivife system.
Those nations who practice the
Plurality doctrine consider it as vir-
tuous and as right for one man to
have many wives, as to have one only.
Therefore, they have enacted laws,
not only giving this right to their citi-
zens, but also protecting them in it,
and punishing all those who infringe
upon the chastity of the, marriage cove-
nant by committing adultery with any
one of the wives of his neighbor.
Those nations do not consider it pos-
sible for a man to commit adultery
with any one of those women to
whom he has been legally married ac-
cording to their laws. The posterity
raised up unto the husband through
each of his wives, are all considered
to be legitimate, and provisions are
made in their laws for those children,
the same as if they were the children
of one wife. Adulteries, fornications,
and all unvirtuous conduct between
the sexes, are severely punished by
them. Indeed, Plurality among them
is considered, not only virtuous and
right, but a great check or preventa-
tive against adulteries and unlawful
connections which are among the
greatest evils with which nations are
cursed, producing a vast amount of
suffering and misery, devastation and
death ; undermining the very founda-
tions of happiness, and destroying
the frame-work of society, and the
peace of the domestic circle.
Some of the nations of Europe who
believe in the one wife system have
actually forbidden a plurality of wives
by their laws; and the consequences
are that the whole country among
them is overrun with the most abomi-
ble practices ? adulteries and unlaw-
ful connections prevail through all
their villages, towns, cities, and coun-
try places to a most fearful extent.
And among some of these nations
these sinks of wickedness, wretched-
ness, and misery, are licensed by law ;
while their piety would be wonder-
fully shocked to authorize by law the
Plurality system, as adopted by many
neighboring nations.
The Constitution and laws of the
United States, being founded upon the
principles of freedom, do not inter-
fere with marriage relations, but leave
the nation free to believe in and prac-
tice the doctrine of a Plurality of
wives, or to confine themselves to the
one wife system just as they choose.
This is as it should be ; it leaves the
conscience of man untrammeled, and
so long as he injures no person, and
does not infringe upon the rights
of others, he is free by the Constitu-
tion to marry one wife, or many, or
none at all, and becomes accountable
to God, for the righteousness or un-
righteousness of his domestic relations.
The Constitution leaves the several
States and Territories to enact such
laws as they see proper in regard to
Marriages, provided that they do not
infringe upon the rights of conscience
and the liberties guaranteed in that sa-
cred document. Therefore, if any
State or Territory feels disposed to
enact laws, guaranteeing to each of its
citizens the right to marry many wives,
such laws would be perfectly consti-
tutional ; hence, the several States and
Territories practice the one wife sys-
tem out of choice, and not because
they are under any obligations so to
do by the National Constitution. In-
deed, we doubt very much, whether
any State or Territory has the con-
stitutional right to make laws, pro-
hibiting the Plurality doctrine in cases
where it is practiced by religious so-
cieties, as a matter of conscience or
CFXESTfAL MARRIAGE.
13
as a doctrine of their religious faith.
The frst Article of the Amendments
to the Constitution says, expressly,
that " Congress shall make no law re-
specting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the fr-e exercise there-
of." Now if even Congress, itself,
has no power to pass a law M prohibit-
ing the free exercise of Religion,"
much less has any State or Territory
power to pass such an act.
The doctrine of a Plurality of
Wives was believed and practise 1 by
Abraham, the father of the faithful ;
and we find that while in this prac-
tice the angels of God frequently min-
istered to him, and at one time dined
with him; and God manifested Him-
self to him, and entered into familiar
conversation with him. Neither God
nor His angels reproved Abraham for
beinga Polygamist. but on the contrary,
the Almighty greatly blessed him and
made promises unto him, concerning
both Isaac and Ishmael, clearly show-
ing that Abraham practiced, what is
caller , Polygamy, under the sanction
of the Almighty. Now if the lather
of the faithful was thus blessed, cer-
tainly it should not be considered ir-
religious for t'le faithful whoare called
his children to walk in the steps of
their father Abraham. Indeed, if the
Lord, Himself, through His holy pro-
phets, should give more wives unto
his servants, as He gave them unto
the prophet David, it would be a great
sin for them to refuse that which He
gives. In such a case, it would become
a matter of conscience with them, and
a part of their religion, and they
would be bound lo exercise their faith
in this doctrine, and practice it, or
be condemned ; therefore, Congress
would have no power to prohibit the
free exercise of this part of their re-
ligion 5 neither would the States or
Territories have power, Constitution-
ally, to pass a law " prohibiting the
free exercise thereof." Now a cer-
tain religious society, called Shakers,
believe it to be wrong for them to
marry even one wife ; it certainly
would be unconstitutional for either
the Congress or the States to pass a
a law, compelling all people to marry
at a certain age, because it would in-
fringe upon the rights of conscience
among the Shakers, and thev would
be prohibited the free exercise of their
religion.
From the foregoing Revelation,
given through Joseph, the Seer, it
will be seen that God has actually
commanded some of His servants to
take more wives, and has pointed out
certain duties in regard to the mar-
riage ceremony, showing that they
must be married for time and for all
eternity, and showing the advantages
to be derived in a future state by
this eternal union, and showing, still
further, that, if they refused to obey
this command, after having the law
revealed to them, they should be
damned. This revelation, then,
makes it a matter of conscience
among all the Latter-Day Saints;
and they embrace it as a part and
portion of their religion, and verily
.beileve that they cannot be saved and
reject it. Has Congress power,
then, to pass laws, " prohibiting " the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints, "the free exercise." of
this article of their religion ? Have
any of the States or Territories a
constitutional right to pass laws " pro-
hibiting the free exercise of the reli-
gion " which the church of the Saints
conscienciou-ly and sincerely believe
to be essential to their salvation?
No : they have no such right.
The Latter- Day Saints have the
most implicit confidence in all the
revelations, given through Joseph, the
prophet ; and they would much sooner
lay down their lives and suffer mar-
tyrdom, than to deny the least reve-
lation that was ever given to him. In
one of the revelations through him,
we read that God raised up wise
men and inspired them to write the
Constitution of our country, that the
freedom of the people might be
maintained, according to the free
agency which He had given to them;
that every man might be accountable
to God and not to man, so far as re-
ligious doctrines and conscience are
concerned. And the more we exam-
H
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
ine that sacred instrument, framed by
the wisdom of our illustrious fathers,
the more we are compelled to believe
that an invisible power controlled,
dictated, and guided them in laying
the foundation of liberty and freedom
upon this great Western Hemisphere.
To this land the Mahomedan — the
Hindoo — the Chinese can emigrate
and each bring with him his score
of wives and his hundred children,
and the glorious Constitution of our
country will not interfere with his
domestic relations. Under the broad
banner of the Constitution he is pro-
tected in all his family associations :
none have a right to tare any of his
wives or his children from him. So
likewise, under the broad folds of the
Constitution, the Legislative Assem-
bly of the Territory of Utah have
the right to pass laws, regulating their
matrimonial relations, and protecting
each of their citizens in the right of
marrying, one or many wives, as the
case may be. If Congress should
repeal those laws, they could not do
so on the ground of their being un-
constitutional. And even, if Con-
gress should repeal them, there still
would be no law in Utah, prohibiting
the free exercise of that religious
right : neither do the citizens of Utah
feel disposed to pass such an uncon-
stitutional act which would infringe
upon the most sacred rights of con-
science.
Tradition and custom have great
influence over nations. Long estab-
lished customs, whether right or
wrong, become sacred in the estima-
tion of Mankind. Those nations
who have been accustomed from
time immemorial to the practice of
what is called Polygamy, would con-
sider a law abolishing it, as the very
height of injustice and oppression ;
the very idea of being limited to the
one wife system, would be considered
not only oppressive and unjust, but
absolutely absurd and ridiculous ; it
would be considered an innovation
upon the long established usages,
customs, and laws of numerous and
powerful nations — an innovation of
the most dangerous character, cal-
culated to destroy the most sacred
rights and privileges of family asso-
ciations — to upset the very founda-
tions of individual rights, rendered
dear and sacred by being handed
down to them from the most remote
ages of antiquity.
On the other hand, the European
nations who have been for centuries
restricted by law to the one wife
theory, would consider it a shocking
innovation upon the customs of their
fathers to abolish their restrictive
laws, and to give freedom and liberty,
according to the plurality system.
It is custom, then, in a great de-
gree, that forms the conscience of
nations and individuals in regard to
the marriage relationships. Cus-
tom causes four-hfths of the popula-
tion of the globe to decide that Poly-
gamy, as it is called, is a good, and
not an evil practice ; custom causes
the balance, or the remaining fifth,
to decide in opposition to the great
majority.
Those individuals who have
strength of mind sufficient to divest
themselves entirely from the influence
of custom, and examine the doctrine
of a Plurality of Wives under the
light of reason and Revelation, will
be forced to the conclusion that it is
a doctrine of Divine origin ; that it
was embraced and practised under
the Divine sanction, by the most
righteous men who ever lived on the
earth ; holy Prophets and Patriarchs
who were inspired by the Holy
Ghost — who were enwrapt in the
visions of the Almighty — who con-
versed with holy angels — who saw
God face to face, and talked with Him
as a man talks with his friend — were
"Polygamists," that is, they had
many wives — raised up many chil-
dren by them — and were never re-
proved, by the Holy Ghost, ncr by
Angels, nor by the Almighty for be-
lieving in and practicing such a doc-
trine ; on the contrary, each one of
these ''Polygamists" received, by
revelation, promises and blessings
for himself, for his wives, and for his
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
15
numerous children, horn unto him \ the gospel covenant were still obliged
by his numerous wives. Moreover, ' to obey ; and until we can find some
the Lord, Himself, gave revelation to i law of God abolishing and prohibit-
different wives, belonging to the same j ing a plurality of wives, we are com-
man, revealing to them the great j pelled to believe it a Divine institu-
blessings which should rest upon
their posterity ; angels also were
sent to comfort and bless them ; and
in no instance do we find them re-
proved for having joined themselves
in marriage to a " Polygamist," In-
deed, the Lord, Himself, gave laws,
tion ; and we are, furthermore, com-
pelled to believe, that if this institu-
tion be entered into now, under the
same principles which governed the
holy Prophets and Patriarchs, that
God will approbate it now as much
as He did then ; and that the per-
not to prohibit "Polygamy," but j sons who do thus practice it conscien-
showing His will in relation to the I tiously and sincerely, are just a» hon-
children raised up by the different I orable in the sight of God, as those
wives of the same man; and further- who have but one wife. And that
more, the Lord, Himself, actually offi- which is honorable before God should
ciated in giving David all the wives of be honorable before men; and no
Saul ; this occurred, too, when David one should be despised when he acts
already had several wives which he
had previously taken : therefore, as
the Lord did actually give into Da-
vid's own bosom all the wives of
Saul, He must not only have sanc-
tioned '.' Polygamy," but established
and instituted it upon a sure fbunda-
tion by giving the wives, Himself,
the same as he gave Eve to Adam.
Therefore, those who are completely
divested from the influence of Na-
in all good conscience upon any prin-
ciple of doctrine ; neither should
there be laws in any of these States
or Territories to compel any indi-
vidual to act in violation to the dic-
tates of his own conscience : but
every one should be left in all mat-
ters of religion to his own choice,
and thus become accountable to God,
and not to his fellow man.
If the people of this country have
tional customs, and who judge con- generally formed different conclusions
cerning this matter by the word of j from us upon this subject; and if
God, are compelled to believe, that the j they have embraced religions which
Plurality of wives was once sanction- ( are more congenial to their minds
ed, for many ages, by the Almighty; j than the religion of the Saints, we
and by a still further research of the say to them that they are welcome to
Divine oracles, they find no intima
tious that this Divine institution was
ever repealed. It was an institution,
their own religious views ; the laws
should not interfere with the exercise
of their religious rights. If we can-
not originated under the law of Mo- 1 not convince you by reason nor by
ses, but it was of a far more ancient i the word of God, that your religion
date ; and ins'ead of being abolished | is wrong, we will not persecute you,
by that law, it was sanctioned and ! but will sustain you in the privileges,
perpetuated : and when Christ came i guaranteed in the great Charter of
to fulfil that law, and to do it away j American Liberty : we ask from you
by the introduction of a better Cove- ] the same generosity — protect us in
nant, He did not abolish the plurality j the exercise of our religious rights —
system: not being originated under ! convince us of our errors of doctrine,
that law, it was not made null and j if we have any, by reason, by logical
void when that law was done away, arguments, or by the word of God,
Indeed, there were many things in and we will be ever grateful for the
connection with the law that were information, and you will ever have
not abolished when the law was ful- the pleasing reflection that you have
filled ; as for instance, the ten com- been instruments in the hands of
mandments which the people under i God of redeeming your fellow beings
16 CATALOGUE OF WORKS, CONTENTS, &C.
from the darkness which you maypute it to the weakness and imper
see enveloping their minds. Come,' fections of our fallen natures, and let
then, let us reason together, and try
to discover the true light upon all
subjects, connected with our tempo-
ral or eternal happiness ; and if we
disagree, in our judgments, let us im-
us pity each other, and endeavor with
patience and meekness to reclaim
from error, and save the immortal
soul from an endless death.
(To be continued.)
A CATALOGUE OF WORKS,
FOB SALE BT
ORSON PRATT, WASHINGTON, D. C,
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CONTENTS.
Procpectus of the Seer » » • 1
First Epistle of Orson Pratt 3
Cele-tial Marriage 7
Catalogue of Works * 16
» WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published by Orson Pratt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
liftcth up an Ensign on the Mountains. — Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
FEBRUARY, 1853.
No. 2.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
1. Man in this life consists of a
body of flesh and bones quickened and
animated by a living intelligent spirit.
It has been supposed that spirit be-
gins to exist within the mortal taberna-
cle while it is yet in embryo, and that
prior to the organization of the body,
the spirit had no existence. These
are the views of modern Christendom.
We shall endeavor to prove that this
view of the subject is incorrect.
2. There is not anything unreason-
able in the pre-existence of spirits.
If spirits can exist after death in a
state of happiness or misery, is there
any reason, why they can not exist
prior to the organization of the body?
If they can think, and will, and move
after they leave the body, why can
they not exercise these functions be-
fore they take possession of the body?
If the destruction of the body is not
the death of the spirit, then it must
be admitted that the spirit is in no
way dependant on the body for its ex-
istence, and, therefore, it can exist
prior to the body, as well as after it.
The disorganization of the body does
not deprive the spirit of life, neither
does the organization of the body
give to the spirit life ; it possesses
life in itself. Life and intelligence are
not the result of organization, but they
are the cause ; and, therefore, they
must exist before the effects can fol-
low. Our bodies are formed from
the dust of the earth, but are our spirits same time. Now we read that God
made from the same materials ? If
they were, then they would, at death,
return to dust; but as they are not
reduced to dust, like the body, they
must be formed of materials far su-
perior to those of the earth. Where
did those materials come from ? They
came from God. Solomon, when
speaking upon the subject of death,
says, "Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall RETURN unto God who gave
it." _ (Eccles. 12: 7.) According
to this passage, the spirit has, not an
earthly origin, but a heavenly one:
it came from God — it returns to God.
" God who gave it," also receives it
back into His presence.
3. Could the spirit return to God,
if it never were in His presence ?
Could we return to a place where
we never were before ? If, then, the
spirits of men existed with God, and
came from Him to animate mortal
bodies, they must either be created
in Heaven at the time the infant
tabernacles are being formed, or else
they existed before. If the spirit is
formed in Heaven at the time the
earthly house is being prepared for
its reception, then God must have
been engaged in the work of crea-
ting spirits at the rate of about ten
millions per year, or about twenty spir-
its per minute, which is the average
number born into our world in the
18
THE FRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
made all things, pertaining to our
earth in six days, and rested on the
seventh. Can we suppose, for one
moment, that God neglected the for-
mation of spirits in the grand work
of creation ? Can we suppose that
he has been engaged in creating hu-
man spirits for this earth, at the rate
of one every three seconds, ever since
He pronounced the Heavens and the
earth and all things therein finished
and very good? Such an idea is in-
consistant and unscriptural.
4. Again, would a good and wise
Being create spirits, and before they
had time to prove themselves by
obeying or disobeying His laws,
thrust them out of His presence, —
banish them from His glorious king-
dom,— shut them up in earthly taber-
nacles, hide His face from them, and
subject them to temptation, wretch-
edness, and misery ? Now, if we
suppose that the spirit is formed in
Heaven, while the embryo tabernacle
is being formed upon the earth, then
it has no time to gain experience in
the presence of its Creator ; it has
no time to act upon its agency ; it
has no time to obey or disobey; but
as soon as it is formed, it is, accord-
ing to this supposition, banished into
dreary exile from the presence of its
Father, and from the glory of Heaven,
to linger out a life of sorrow in an
earthly tabernacle. Such a supposi-
tion is absurd, and at war with the
atributes of goodness, justice, and
mercy which appertain to the Deity.
5. Inasmuch as Scripture informs
us that the spirit of man existed with
God, and came from Him, and returns
to Him, it is reasonable to believe
that its formation took place at a
period anterior to the organization of
the body. This period of pre-exis-
tence must have been sufficiently
long to have educated and instructed
the spirit in the laws and order of
government, pertaining to the spirit-
ual world ; to have rendered itself ap-
proved or disapproved by those laws ;
to have been tried in all points, ac-
cording to its capacities and know-
ledge, and the free agency which al-
ways accompanies and forms a part
of the nature of intelligent beings %
in fine, the period of pie-existence
must have been sufficiently long to
have constituted a probationary state,
or the " First Estate" wherein the
spirits are on trial, and may fall, and
be reserved in chains of darkness un-
to the judgment of the great day.
6. The pre-existence of man is a
doctrine which was believed by the
ancients. The disciples of Jesus,
when observing a man who had been
blind from his birth, put the follow-
ing question to their Master : " Who
did sin, this man, or his parents, that
he was born blind?" (John 9 : 2.)
It is evident, from the nature of this
question, that the disciples considered
it possible for a man to sin before he
was born ; and that in consequence
of such sin, he might be " bom blind."
This passage shows most clearly,
that the disciples, not only believed
in the pre-existence of man, but be-
lieved that he was an intelligent
agent, governed by laws which he
was capable of obeying or disobey-
ing, and that his sins in his former
state might be the cause of his being
born blind, and that his condition in
his present state was affected by his
acts in the former state. The Sav-
iour, in replying to this question, says,
"Neither hath this man sinned, nor
his parents : but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him."
(verse 3.) Now, if the pre-existence
of man were not a true doctrine,
why did not our Saviour take this
opportunity to correct the ideas of
his disciples, by telling them that the
blind man could not sin before he
was born ? Why did he merely tell
them that his blindness was not the
effects of the sins of himself or pa-
rents ? Why did he still leave the
impression upon their minds that the
blind man had a pre-existence?
7. Jesus, himself, believed in pre-
existence : for he said, "I proceeded
forth and came from God ; neither
came I of myself, but he sent me."
And, again, he said, "Before Abra-
ham was, I am." (John 8 : 42, 58.)
Jesus prays thus: "And now, O
Father, glorify thou me with thine
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
19
own self with the glory which I had \ One : for which cause He is not
with thee before the world was." j ashamed to call them brethren."
(John 17: 5.) From these sayings, (Heb. 2 : 11.) That the brethren,
we perceive that the spiritual body of here spoken of, are the sons of God,
Jesus existed "before the world was." I begotten by the same Father that
8. Having proved that the pre-ex- Jesus was, is evident from another
tence of man is reasonable and scrip saying of the Apostle, "We have had
tural, we shall next prove that this ' fathers of our flesh which corrected
pre-existence can be traced back to
a period before the foundation of
the world. The Lord asked a
question of Job in relation to
this matter: He inquires, "Where
wast thou when I laid the foundations
us, and we gave them reverence
shall we not much rather be in sub-
jection unto the FATHER OF
SPIRITS, and live ?" (Heb. 12 : 9.)
Our earthly fathers are called, the
fathers of our flesh" while God is
of ihe earth? declare, if thou hast | called, " The Father of Spirits"
understanding. Who laid the cor- ' Earthly fathers have no power to be-
ner stone thereof, when the morning get spirits ; they beget only the bodies
stars sang together, and all the Sons
of God shouted for joy ?" (Job 33 :
4, 6, 7.) If Job had no prior exis-
tence, he could have easily answered
the Lord's first question. He could
have replied, that, when " the found-
ations of the earth" were laid, I, Job,
did not exist. The very question im-
plies that Job was in existence at
the time of the organization of the
globe, but that he had not sufficient
understanding, as to the place where
he existed, to correctly answer the
question put to him. Neiiher could
he remember, " Who laid the cor-
ner stone thereof;" neither could he
recollect, the song of the morning
of flesh, or the tabernacles ; while our
Heavenly Father begets the spirits,
or the living beings which come from
Him to inhabit the tabernacles.
10. "The First Born" of all this
great family of Spirits, holds, by vir-
tue of His birthright, a pre-eminence
in all things ; hence it is written,
" When he bringeth in the First
Begotten into the world, He saith,
And let all the angels of God worship
Him." (Heb. 1 : 6.) The oldest
spirits or the First Begotten hold the
keys of Salvation towards all the rest
of the family of spirits. " The First
Born" Spirit is called " The Morning
Star," because He was born in the
stars; neither could he call to mind, ! morning of Creation, or in other
the shout of joy which was uttered j words, because He was "The Be-
by the vast assembly of " ALL THE ginning of the Creation of God." His
SONS OF GOD
9. Jesus calls himself, " The
bright, and morning star." (Rev.
22 : 15.) And in another place, He
represents Himself, " The Beginning
of the Creation of God." (Rev. 3:
14.) Paul says, that Jesus "is the
image of the invisible God — the
FIRST BORN of every creature."
(Col. 1: 15.) As Jesus is the First
Born Son of God, it is evident, that
all the other Sons of God would be
His younger brethren, begotten by
the same Father. Therefore, Paul
represents him as " the First Born
among many brethren." (Romans
8 : 29.) And in another place, he
younger brethren were called "morn-
ing stars" because they were also
born in the morning of creation, be-
ing the next in succession in the
order of the spiritual creation.
11. "The Father of Spirits," hav-
ing filled one of the celestial kingdoms
with his own Sons and Daughters —
the fruit of his own loins, gave com-
mandment unto His " First Born " to
organize, out of the eternal elements,
another world. In obedience to this
great commandment, "The First Be-
gotten,'' accompanied by all His
younger brethren who had kept their
" First Estate" proceeded to lay
" the foundations of the earth," and
says, " Both He that sanctifieth and J " the corner stones thereof." And
they who are sanctified, are all of' upon this grand occasion, " The
20
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
Morning Stars sang together." The
Lord does not reveal to Job the sen-
timents contained in this song. It
was probably a song, composed by
one of the wisest poets in the vast
kingdom of spirits, there assembled.
It, no doubt, contained sentiments
suitable to the majesty, greatness, and
magnificence of the work which
they had commenced. The founda-
tions of a mighty world were being
laid — the corner stones were placed
in their appropriate position. Upon
these, or around these, as a central
nucleus, was to be erected a mag-
nificent globe, arrayed in all the gor-
geous splendor of celestial workman-
ship. Above, below, and around
these eternal elements, hovered thou-
sands of millions of the sons of God
which were the spirits of men. By
the spirit of prophecy, they looked
upon the vast field of unorganized
materials which lay stretched out al-
most to infinity in the boundless ocean
of space which surrounded them.
They saw that these materials were
to be formed and fashioned into a
ponderous globe, prepared and adorn-
ed for their future residence ; where
they should exist, and live, and move
in earthly tabernacles ; where they
should sway the sceptre of dominion
over all the lower orders of creation;
where they should become fathers of
fleshly bodies, in like manner, as God
was the Father of their spirits. They
saw the fall, redemption, and eternal
exaltation of the sons of God, and
the glorification of the earlh which
they were forming, which should be-
come their abiding place forever. In
the contemplation of the magnificent
sceneries which rolled in awful gran-
deur before them, their bosoms
swelled with indescribable joy ; they
gave utterance to their feelings in
rapturous strains of melodious music
which reverberated from world to
world, filling all the heavens with the
praises of God, while eternity itself
trembled with joy.
12. They not only had singing to
celebrate the beginning of the organi-
zation of this earth, but " all the sons
of God shouted for joy." Who can
contemplate this grand event without
being almost overpowered with the
ideas of greatness and magnificence
which force themselves upon the
mind ? All the generations of men
that have ever lived, or that ever
will live upon the earth, were as-
sembled upon that occasion. They
were the sons of God : they were
the ones who shouted for joy. Their
united voices must have been, as the
voice of many waters, driven by fierce
tempests whose mountain waves,
rolling, plunging, dashing, break with
awful majesty upon the rocky bound
coast. A shout of joy, breaking forth
simultaneously from a vast world of
spirits, must have been as the rolling
of ten thousand thunders, reverbera-
ting from mountain to mountain, till
the whole earth trembles under the
power thereof.
13. There is something grand and
sublime in the contemplation of our
pre-existence. How wonderful and
interesting it is for us to know, that
the beings whom we call ourselves,
that now dwell in these earthly tab-
ernacles— existed thousands of years
ago — that we were present, when
the foundations of the earth were
laid — that we then sang and shouted
for joy — that we were engaged with
our oldest brother, the First Born, in
organizing this world — that we dwelt
for ages in our Father's presence in
a celestial or glorified world — that
we there beheld His face, and re-
joiced .in His glory — that we there
were instructed in the wisdom and
knowledge of God, till the intelligence
which radiated from our persons,
shone like the morning light.
14. Objections have been raised
against the pre-existence of man
upon the ground that we do not re-
member such existence, or any event
connected therewith. It is true, we
do not remember any thing prior to
our present state, but this does not
prove that we had no prior existence.
We do not remember our existence
or anything else, during the first sis
months of our infancy, does this prove
that we did not exist during that time ?
No. If,, then, we could exist six
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
21
months, during our present state with-
out remembering it, we might, for
the same reason, have existed during
six thousand years prior to our pres-
ent state, and not remember it. Ex-
istence is in no way dependant on
memory ; therefore, memory has
nothing to do with the question of
our past state.
15. When Jesus was bom into our
world, his previous knowledge was
taken from Him : this was occa-
sioned by His spiritual body being
compressed into a smaller volume
than it originally occupied. In His
previous existence, His spirit, as the
Scriptures testify, was of ihe size and
form of man ; when this spirit was
compressed, so as to be wholly en-
closed in an infant tabernacle, it had
a tendency to suspend the memory ;
and the wisdom and knowledge, for-
merly enjoyed, were forgotten. " In
His humiliation, His judgment was
taken away." (Acts 8, 33.) To come
down from Heaven, from His Father's
presence, where He had formerly
possessed judgment and understanding
sufficient to frame worlds, and to en-
ter into a mortal tabernacle, was
truly humiliating. It was, indeed,
humiliating in the highest degree, to
be deprived of so great a knowledge.
Yet he humbled Himself, and con-
decended to descend below all things,
and to commence anew at the very
elements of knowledge : hence, one
of the evangelists says, " Jesus in-
creased in wisdom and stature."
(Luke 2, 52.) Now if Jesus had re-
tained His wisdom when He was
born into this world, it would not
have been said of Him that He " in-
creased in wisdom.'''' If the knowl-
edge which Jesus possessed in His
previous state, were taken from Him,
when He entered an infant tabernacle,
He could never regain that know-
ledge only by revelation. So it is
with man. When he enters a body
of flesh, his spirit is so compressed
and contracted in infancy that h*> for-
gets his former existence, and has to
commence, as Jesus did, at the low-
est principles of knowledge, and as-
cend by degrees from one principle
of intelligence to another. Thus he
regains his former knowledge ; and
by showing himself approved through
every degree of intelligence, he is
counted worthy to receive more and
more, until he is perfected and glori-
fied in truth, and made like his elder
brother, possessing all things.
16. If the spiritual body of Jesus,
and the spiritual bodies of all men,
existed before the foundation of the
world, as we have clearly shown, is
there any thing unreasonable in the
idea of the pre-existence of the
spiritual bodies of all the an'mal
creation ? There is not. One class
of spirits may exist before they enter
their natural bodies, as well as
another. Did not the same God
who made the spirits of men, make
the spirits of beasts also? Job says,
" Ask now the beasts, and they shall
teach thee ; and the fowls of the air,
and they shall tell thee ; or speak to
the earth, and it shall teach thee :
and the fishes of the sea shall declare
unto thee. Who knoweth not in all
these, that the hand of the Lord hath
wrought this? IN WHOSE HAND
IS THE SOUL OF EVERY LIV-
ING THING." (Job 12, 7-iO.) In
this quotation, we perceive that ''the
soul of every living thing " is in the
hand of the Lord : He is the Maker
and Preserver of the souls of beasts,
birds, and fishes, as well as of the
souls of men : hence, Moses, when
praying to the Lord, says : " Let the
Lord, THE GOD OF THE
SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH, set a
man over the congregation." (Num.
27 ; 16.) Thus we see that the
Lord is, not only the God of the
spirits of men, but He is '"the God of
the spirits of all flesh."
17. That the spirits of all the
vegetables and animals were made
before their bodies is evident from
the history of creation as related in
the first and second chapters of Gen-
esis- In the first chapter, we have
the history of the creation of vegeta-
bles, fish, fowls, beasts, and man. In
the second chapter, we are told that
on the seventh day "there was not
a man to till the ground ;" and then
22
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
a description is given of the forma-
tion of his natural body "out of the
ground." In the first chapter, and
during the third day, the vegetables
and trees are formed ; in the second
chapter, and on the seventh day, we
are told that the Lord "made every
plant of the field before it was in the
earth, and every herb of the field
before it grew;" and then we are
informed that on the seventh day the
Lord planted a garden, that is, set
out the trees and herbs which he had
made on the third day, and caused
them to "grow out of the ground."
In the first chapter, it is said, that the
fish, fowls, and beasts, were created
on the fifth and sixth days ; in the
second chapter, these various animals
are formed "out of the ground" on
the seventh day, and " brought unto
Adam to see what he would call
them." From this we learn, that the
natural bodies of animals were made
after the natural body of man. In
the work of the temporal creation
man seems to have been the first
flesh upon the earth, his natural body
being made even before the herbs
and trees were planted and grew out
of the ground. He was placed in
the garden of Eden, before the Lord
made the beasts and fowls, that is,
their natural bodies, and brought
them to him in order that he might
name them. The first chapter gives
a history of the creation of all things
spiritual ; the second chapter gives
the history of the creation of all
things temporal. In the order of
time, and in the succession of events,
the spiritual creation of the Heavens,
and earth, and all things contained
therein, — differs from the temporal
creation of the same. To suppose
that these two chapters only give the
history of the natural creation, would
involve us in numerous difficulties,
when we endeavor to reconcile the
description given in the second chap-
ter with that given in the first. But
to receive them as the descriptions
of two successive creations, the first
being spiritual, (as it truly was,) and
the second being temporal, all diffi-
culties and discrepancies in the two
different descriptions vanish away,
and a flood of light bursts upon the
mind.
18. Joseim! Smith, the great pro-
phet of the last dispensation, being
commanded of God to translate the
Bible by the inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, — commenced the great work
in the month of June, 1830. In this
inspired translation, the distinction
between the spiritual and temporal
creation, is clearly manifest. After
describing the six days of labor, God
informs us, that be ended His work
on the seventh day, and rested there-
in, and sanctified it. He then teaches
us, "that these are the generations of
the Heaven and of the Earth, when
they were created, in the day that I,
the Lord God. made the Heaven and
the Earth, and every plant of the field
before it was in the earth, and every
herb of the field before it grew. For
I, the Lord God, created all things,
of which I have spoken, spiritually
before they were naturally upon the
face of the earth. And I, the Lord
God, had created all the children of
men ; and not yet a man to till the
ground, for in Heaven created I them ;
and there was not yet flesh upon the
earth; neither in the water, neither
in the air ; but I, the Lord God, spake,
and there went up a mist from the
earth, and watered the whole face of
the ground. And I, the Lord God,
formed man from the dust of the
the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life ; and man
became a living soul, the first flesh
upon the earth, the first man also ;
nevertheless, all things were before
created; but spiritually, were they
created and made according to my
word. And I, the Lord God, planted
a garden eastward in Eden, and there
I put the man whom I had formed.
And out of the ground I, the Lord
God, made to grow naturally, every
tree that is pleasant to the sight of
man ; and man could behold it. And
they became also a living soul. It
was spiritual in the day that I creat-
ed it; for it remaineth in the sphere
which I, God, created it in, yea, even
all things which I prepared for the
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
23
tise of man ; and man saw that it
was good for food. And I, the Lord
God, placed the tree of life also in
the midst of the garden, and also
the tree of knowledge of good and
evl] » ****** Ant{ out of
the ground I, the Lord God, formed
every beast of the field, and every
fowl of the air; and commanded that
they should he hrought unto Adam,
to see what he would call them : and
they were also living souls, and it
was breathed into them the breath of
life." (Gen, 2nd chap. Inspired
Translation, by Joseph Smith, the
prophet.) Here we learn, that every
vegetable and animal, as well as
man, was first created spiritually, in
Heaven, and afterwards made natu-
rally upon the earth The succession
of events in the spiritual creation
was different from that in the natural
creation ; hence, arises the two dif-
ferent descriptions.
19. Heaven is the world where all
the spirits, destined for this creation,
had their origin : It is a world, con-
sisting of a great variety of materials
of a similar nature to those which
enter into the constitution of our
world. The difference between our
world and a Heavenly one, consists,
not in the diversity of the elements,
for they are the same, but in the dif-
ference of the organization of these
elements. In our world, the ele-
ments, at the present time, are so or-
ganized, that continual changes are
taking place of such a nature as to
produce death and the dissolution of all
organized substances. In a Heaven-
ly world, the same elements are so
combined that eternal duration is
stamped upon every organization.
The spiritual substances, connected
with our world, are not permanently
combined with the other elements;
while in a Heavenly world, so far as
these two classes of elements are
combined, their union is immortal or
eternal. A Heavenly world has
once been in the same condition as
our world, but its temporal organiza-
tion has been dissolved, and the same
elements have been reorganized after
the pattern of the Heavenly order : it
is thus changed from a temporal to
an eternal state. In its temporal
condition, it is terrestrial ; in its
eternal condition, it is celestial. Un-
cer the former, death usurps domin-
ion, and spreads devastation and ruin
throughout the whole organization :
under the latter, eternal life reigns
triumphant fbrevermore. In the one
condition, it is a fallen world ; in the
other, it is a redeemed world. In
the first state, it is a non-luminous
body, borrowing its light from those
of a higher order; in the second, it
is a luminous body, radiating light
upon the surrounding worlds. When
a fallen world, it is inhabited by fallen
beings ; when a redeemed world, it
is inhabited by celestial beings, re-
deemed from the grave, and glorified,
and made like unto the God who
created and redeemed them, whose
sons they are, and henceforth they
are Gods, ordained to do the works
appertaining to Gods ; and as their
Father God has done before them,
so will they do. Heaven, then, is a
redeemed glorified world, inhabited
by the Gods, and by their sons and
daughters, who are the fruits of their
own loins.
20. The Gods who dwell in the
Heaven from which our spirits came,
are beings who have been redeemed
from the grave in a world which ex-
isted before the foundations of this
earth were laid. They and the
Heavenly body which they now in-
habit were once in a fallen state.
Their terrestrial world was redeemed,
and glorified, and made a Heaven :
their terrestrial bodies, after suffering
death, were redeemed, and glorified,
and made Gods. And thus, as their
world was exalted from a temporal
to an eternal state, thpy were exalted
also, from fallen men to Celestial
Gods to inhabit their Heaven forever
and ever.
21. These Gods, being redeemed
from the grave with their wives,
are immortal and eternal, and will
die no more. But they and their
wives will be supremely happy. All
the endearing ties of conjugal love
which existed in their bosoms, when
24
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
terrestrial and fallen beings, are now
greatly increased and perfecieu which
serve to swell their souls with feel-
ings of rapturous delight, and un-
bounded love towards each other,
and with joys that are everlasting.
How beautiful — how interesting —
how inexpressibly lovely will they
appear in each others eyes ! Full ot
virtue and goodness, knowledge and
intelligence, affection and love, —
they shine forth in all the brilliancy
and glory of these Godlike attributes,
inspiring each other, and all Heaven,
with a fulness of Eternal joys.
22. All these Gods are equal in
power, in glory, in dominion, and in
the possession of all things ; each
possesses a fulness of truth, of knowl-
edge, of wisdom, of light, of intelli-
gence ; each governs himself in all
things by his own attributes, and is
filled with love, goodness, mercy, and
justice towards all. The fulness of
all these attributes is what constitutes
God. "God is Light." "God is
Love." "God is Truth." The Gods
are one in the qualities and attributes.
Truth is not a plurality of truths, be-
cause it dwells in a plurality of per-
sons, but it is one truth, indivisible,
though it dwells in millions of per-
sons. Each person is called God,
not because of his substance, neither
because of the shape and size of the
substance, but because of the quali-
ties which dwell in the substance.
Persons are only tabernacles or tem-
ples, and TRUTH is the God, that
dwells in them. If the fulness of
truth, dwells in numberless millions
of persons, then the same one indi-
visible God dwells in them all. As
truth can dwell in all worlds at the
same instant; therefore, God who is
truth can be in all worlds at the same
instant. A temple of iinmortal flesh,
and bones, and spirit, can only be in
one place at a time, but truth, which
(To be contmutd.) .
is God, can dwell in a countless num-
ber of such temples in the same mo-
ment. When we worship the Father,
we do not merely worship His per-
son, but we worship the truth which
dwells in His person. When we
worship the Son, we do not merely
worship His body, but we worship
truth which resides in Him. So,
likewise, when we worship the Holy
Ghost, it is not the substance which
we alone worship, but truth which
dwells in that substance. Take away
truth from either of these beings, and
their persons or substance would not
be the object of worship. It is truth,
light, and love that we worship and
adore ; these are the same in all
worlds ; and as these constitute God,
He is the same in all worlds ; and
hence, the inhabitants of all worlds
are required to worship and adore the
same God. Because God dwells in
many temples, He frequently speaks to
us, as though there were many Gods :
this is true when reference is made
to the number of His dwelling places ;
but it is not true, and cannot be true,,
in any other sense. Therefore, in
all our future statements and reason-
ings, when we speak of a plurality of
Gods, let it be distinctly understood,
that we have reference alone to a
plurality of temples wherein the same
truth or God dwells. And also when
we speak of only one God, and state
that He is eternal, without beginning
or end, and that He is in all worlds
at the same instant, let it be distinctly
remembered, that we have no refer-
ence to any particular person or sub-
stance, but to truth dwelling in a vast
variety of substances. Wherever
you find a fulness of wisdom, knowl-
edge, truth, goodness, love, and such
like qualities, there you find God in
all His glory, power, and majesty,
therefore, if you worship these adora-
ble perfections you worship God.
CELESTIAL MARBIAGE.
25
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
( Continued.)
The first great commandment
which God gave unto mankind, as
recorded in the scriptures, was, to
" Be fruitful, and multiply, and re-
plenish the earth.^ (Gen. 1: 28.)
The principal object was to people
this creation with myriads of intelli-
gent moral beings, after His own im-
age and likeness, endowed with God-
like capacities, and capable of pro-
gressing in the grand scale of know-
ledge and happiness, until they should
receive a fulness, and become like
God, and be glorified in Him. and He
in them, that they might be one in
glory, and in power, and in dominion.
Herein is God glorified, because
there are millions of beings who
eventually become like Himself, with
whom He can associate, and who
are capable of understanding and ap-
preciating all the fulness of His
glorious attributes, and of acting with
Him in the most perfect harmony in
all the magnificent works of Creation.
Herein are the dominions of the Al-
mighty enlarged, by the accession of
new worlds, peopled with beings in
His own form and of His own order.
And herein joy, and gladness, and
happiness, reign in the bosom of the
great Creator, in all their fulness and
perfection, because He exercises His
infinite goodness in the formation of
numberless worlds, peopled with be-
ings upon whom, if obedient, He be-
stows all the fulness of His own great
perfections.
If, then, the multiplication of human
beings adds to the dominions of the
Almighty, glorifies His name, and
gives Him an opportunity of display-
ing His infinite goodness, it is rea-
sonable to suppose that He would
give laws unto mankind, regulating
them upon so important a subject — a
subject fraught with consequences
that are eternal. Think, for one
moment, of the great responsibilities,
resting upon the father and mother
of an infant child : they have been
instruments, in giving existence to a
being, capable of eternal happiness
or of eternal misery ; they have been
entrusted with the protection and in-
struction of a being in the image and
and likeness of God who, by proper
training, may soar aloft in wisdom,
and knowledge, and power, and God-
like majesty to the realms of immor-
tality and everlasting light ; they have
been entrusted with a treasure in-
finitely more valuable than all the
riches and honors of this world — a
treasure which, by their mismanage-
ment may be lost — eternally lost — a
treasure for which they are account-
able in the great judgment of quick
and dead. (), how great will be the
glory and happiness of that man and
woman who have obeyed that great
first commandment to " Multiply,"
and have trained up themselves and
their children unto life and immor-
tality ! On the other band, what
wretchedness and misery, will be in-
flicted upon those who have been in-
struments of unlawful connections,
whose illegitimate children will re-
main as a standing curse, both in
time and in eternity, to testify loudly
of the unvirtuous associations of their
guilty parents ! O, how fearful the
responsibilities, resting upon mankind
in regard to this momentous subject !
It is because of the infinitely im-
portant consequences, involved in the
multiplication of the human species,
that God has regulated the same by
the strictest kind of laws. He has
not permitted an indiscriminate inter-
course between the sexes, as among
the dumb brutes ; but He has ordain-
ed Marriage as the only justifiable
means through which the sexes can
legally "multiply and replenish the
earth." All connections out of the
marriage covenant, are unlawful in
the sight of God ; and all who are
guilty of such crimes will be severely
punished for the same. In ancient
times persons committing adulteries,
fornications, and unvirtuous connec-
tions, were punished with death, ac-
26
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
cording to the law of God, which
reads as follows :
" If a man bo found lying with a
woman married to an husband, then
they shall both die, both the man that
lay with the woman, and the woman :
so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
If a damsel that is a virgin be be-
trothed unto an husband, and a man
find her in the city, and lie with her;
then ye shall bring them both out un
to the gate of that city, and ye shall
stone them with stones that they die ;
the damsel, because she cried not,
being in the city; and the man, be-
cause he hath humbled his neigh-
bour's wife : so shalt thou put away
evil from among you. But if a man
find a betrothed damsel in the field,
and the man force her, and lie with
her: then the man only that lay with
her shall die." (Deuteronomy, 22 :
22, 25.
The great abhorence which the
Lord manifested towards all unvir-
tuous connections, may be clearly
seen from the following :
" If any man take a wife, and go
in unto her, and hate her, and give
occasions of speech against her, and
bring up an evil name upon her, and
say, I took this woman, and when I
came to her, I found her not a maid."
And, "if this thing be true, and the
tokens of virginity be not found
for the damsel : then they shall bring
out the damsel to the door of her
father's house, and the men of her
city shall stone her with stones that
she die ; because she hath wrought
folly in Israel, to play the whore in
her father's house : so shalt thou put
evil away from among you." (Deut.
22: 13, 14, 20, 21.
It was pleasing to the Lord to have
such wicked characters put to death.
Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, was
greatly blessed of the Lord, for put-
ting to death a man and woman who
•were guilty of unlawful connections :
we give the history of this event in
the words of scripture.
"And, behold, one of the children
of Israel came and brought unto his
brethren a Midianitish woman in the
sight of Moses, and in the sight of
all the congregation of the children
of Israel, who were weeping before
the door of the tabernacle of the con-
gregation. And when Phinehas, the
son of Eleazer, the son of Aaron, the
priest, saw it, he rose up from among
the congregation and took a javelin in
his hand ; and he went after the man
of Israel into the tent, and thrust both
of them through. * * * So the plague
was.stayed from the children of Israel.
And those that dieH in the plague
were twenty and four thousand. And
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, the son
of Aaron, the priest, hath turned my
wrath away from the children of Israel
while he was zealous f r my sake
among them, that I consumed not the
children of Israel in my jealousy.
Wherefore, say, behold, I give unto
him my covenant of peace : and he
shall have it, and his seed after him,
even the covenant, of an everlasting
priesthood; because he was zealous
for his God, and made an atonement
for the children of Israel." (Num-
bers, 25: 6— 13 )
Why was the Lord so displeased
with the sexes that he would punish
them with death for unvirtuous con-
duct ? It was, because He had or-
dained marriage as the only lawful
way of multiplying the human race.
The direful effects which follow un-
virtuous associations, can easily be
perceived, even though there were no
law of God against such evils. First,
illegitimate children are thrown upon
the world without any lawful protector
to look after their temporal welfare.
Secondly, these children have not the
moral advantages, which should be
derived from the teachings and ex-
amples of lawful parents, and, conse-
quently, are in greater danger of losing
their eternal salvation. And lastly,
an indiscriminate intercourse between
the sexes would break up all family
associations, and destroy the harmony
and peace, enjoyed in the. domestic
circle ; fathers would not know their
own children, and children could not,
with confidence, say who were their
fathers: such an order of things would
be deplorable, and would strike a
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
27
deadly blow at the foundation of all
domestic happiness. Many other
dreadf'il consequences might also be
named, as the result of licentiousness,
such as jealousies, want of confidence,
loathsome diseases transferred to pos-
terity, all of which evils are abhorent
to the feelings of every good man.
It is for this reason, that God has en-
acted strict laws in regard to all these
crimes. It is for this reason, that He
punishes with such heavy penalties
those who violate these sacred laws.
Adulterers, and unvirtuous persons
were not only to be punished tempo-
rally, but also spiritually, after this
life. Hence, the Lord says, "The
fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers and whore-
mongers, and sorcerers, and idolators,
and all liars, shall have their part in
the lake which burnetii with fire and
brimstone : which is the second
death." (Rev. 2l: 8.) Punishment
by a temporal death is not sufficient
to satisfy the demands of justice: they
must suffer the penalties of the se-
ond death also.
The same strictness against all
unvirtuous conduct is taught in the
book of Mormon, as may be seen
from the following quotations:
"O the wise, and the learned, and
the rich, that are puffed up in the
pride of their hearts, and all those
who preach false doctrines, and all
those who commit whoredoms, and per-
vert the right way of the Lord ; wo,
wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord
God Almighty, for they shall be thrust
down to helV' (2 Nephi 12: 2.)
The prophet Alma, in speaking to
his son on this same subject, says,
"Know ye not, my son, that these
things are an abomination in the
sight of the Lord ; yea, must abomi-
nable above all sins, save it be the
shedding of innocent blood, or deny-
ing the Holy Ghost." (Alma 19: 1.)
In another place, the Lord says to
the ancient inhabitants of America,
as follows:
" I, the Lord God, delight in the
chastity of women. And whoredoms
are an abomination before me ; thus
saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore,
this people shall keep my command-
ments, saith the. Lord of Hosts, or
cursed be the land for their sakes.
For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts,
raise up seed unto me, I will com-
mand my people ; otherwise, they
shall hearken unto these things.
For behold, I, the Lord, have seen
the sorrow, and heard the mourning
of the daughters of my people in the
land of Jerusalem ; yea, and in all
the lands of my people because of
the wickedness and abominations of
their husbands. And I will not suffer,
saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries
of the fair daughters of this people,
which I have led out of the land of
Jerusalem, shall come up unto me,
against the men of my people, saith
the Lord of Hosts ; for they shall not
lead away captive the daughters of
my people, because of their tender-
ness, save I shall visit them with a
sore curse, even unto destruction :
for they shall not commit whoredoms,
like unto them of old, saith the Lord
of Hosts." (Book of Jacob, 2: 6 )
When Jesus appeared unto the an-
cient Nephites, in the northern part
of what we call South America, He
taught them, concerning adultery in
these words :
"Behold, it is written by them of
old time, that thou shalt not commit
adultery ; but I say unto you, that
whosoever looketh on a woman, to
lust after her, hath committed adultery
already in his heart. Behold, I give
unto you a commandment, that ye
suffer none of these things to enter
into your heart ; for it is better that
ye should deny yourselves of these
things, wherein ye will take up your
cross, than that ye should be cast into
hell." (Book of Nephi, page 460,
chap. 5 : 10.)
The same doctrine is taught in the
revelations and commandments, given
through Joseph, the Seer, unto this
church. In February, 1831, the
Lord spake thus :
" Thou shalt love thy wife with all
thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her
and none else ; and he that looketh
upon a woman to lust after her, shall
deny the faith, and shall not have the
28
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
Spirit, and if he repents not, he shall
be ca^t out. Thou slialt nut commit
adultery ; and he that committeth adul-
tery and repenteth not, shall be cast
out ; but he that has committed adul-
tery and repents with all his heart,
and forsaketh it, and doelh it no more,
thou shalt forgive ; but if he doeth it
again, be shall not be forgiven, but
shall be cast out." (Book of Cove-
nants, sec. 13, par. 7.)
" And if any man or woman shall
commit adultery, he or she shall be
tried before two elders of the church
or more, and every word shall be es-
tablished against him or her by two
witnesses of the church, and not of
the enemy ; but if there are more
than two witnesses it is better. But
he or she shall be condemned by the
mouth of two witnesses, and the eld-
era shall lay the case before the
church, and the church shall lift up
their hands against him or her, that
they may be dealt with according to
the law of God. And if it can be, it
is necessary that the bishop is pre-
sent also. And thus ye shall do in
all cases which shall come before
you." (Sec. 18, par. 22.)
The saints are prohibited, by reve-
lation, to receive certain persons into
the church. The Lord says :
"Behold, verily I say unto you,
that whatever persons among you,
having put away their companions
for the cause of fornication, or in
other words, if they shall testify be-
fore you in all lowliness of heart that
this is the case, ye shall not cast
them out from among you ; but if ye
shall find that any persons have left
their companions for the sake of adul-
tery, and they themselves are the
offenders, and their companions are
living, they shall be cast out from
among you. And again I say unto
you, that ye shall be watchful and
careful, with all inquiry, that ye re-
ceive none such among you, if they
are married ; and if they are not
married, they shall repent of all
their sins, or ye shall not receive
them." (Sec. 13, par. 20.)
And again, the word of the Lord
came unto Joseph, the Seer, in Au-
gust, 1831, saying :
" There were among you adulter-
ers and adulteresses ; some of whom
have turned away from you, and others
remain with you, that hereafter shall
be revealed. Let such beware and
repent speedily, lest judgments shall
come upon them as a snare, and their
folly shall be made manifest, and their
works shall follow them in the eyes
of the people. And, verily, I say
unto you, as I have said before, he
that looketh on a woman to lust after
her, or if any shall commit adultery
in their hearts, they shall not. have
the Spiri', but shall deny the faith,
and shall fear : wherefore, I, the
Lord, have said that the fearful, and
the unbelieving, and all liars, and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie,
and the whoremonger, and the sor-
cerer, shall have their part in that
lake which burnetii with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death.
Verily I say, that they shall not have
part in the first resurrection. And,
now, behold, I, the Lord, say unto
you, that ye are not justified, because
these things are among you ; never-
theless, he that endureth in faith, and
doeth my will, the same shall over-
come, and shall receive an inheri-
tance upon the earth, when the day
of transfiguration shall come." (Sec.
20, par. 4, 5, 6.)
In all these quotations from ancient
and modern revelations, every one
can see the dreadful consequences,
arising from the least indulgence of
these sinful lusts. Those persons
who suffer unvirtuous thoughts to
come into their hearts, and cherish
them there for one moment will find
themselves under condemnation ; they
have broken the law of God ; they
have become defiled by their wicked
thoughts, and unless they repent, the
Spirit will depart from them ; for the
Holy Ghost dwelleth not in unholy
temples, and they will be left in dark-
ness, and their faith will die away,
and they will be filled with fear, and
finally be cast down to hell.
The Latter-Day Saints are under
greater obligations than any other
people on the whole earth, to keep
themselves pure and virtuous before
the Lord — to refrain from adulteries,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
fornications, licentiousness, all unlaw,
ful connections, all uncleanness, all
fleshly lusts, all unvirtuous and unholy
weeping, and wailing, and gnashing
of teeth.
From the foregoing quotations and
desires, and from all lustful thoughts remarks, it will be seen, that the
and carnal affections ; for we have Latter Day Saints have stricter no.
been faithfully warned, again and tions of virtue, and consider them-
again, by the voice of that great pro- : selves under greater obligations to
phet and revelator, Joseph Smith ;
we have been warned by the voice
of inspiration — by the voice of an-
gels— by the voice of the ancient
prophets of America, speaking as it
were from the dead through the me-
dium of their ancient records — we
have been warned by the voice of
refrain, not only from unvirtuous acts,
but from unvirtuous thoughts, than
any other people under Heaven.
But do the Saints actually demonstrate
by their practices, that they believe
what the Lord has taught them upon
these subjects? Do they practice
virtue, as well as deliver the precepts
God, threatening us with destruction, thereof? We answer, let the prac-
and with the miseries of the second j tices of the thirty thousand Saints in
death, if we do not keep ourselves j Utah, speak ; let strangers who have
entirely free and pure from all these i travelled through our flourishing ter-
sinful soul-destroying lusts. If we i ritory, declare ; let the records of the
reject so great warnings, and sin j courts of justice bear witness; let
against so great light, how can we j the injured females, if there be any,
obtain forgiveness, or escape the
damnation of hell ? The Lord our
whose character and reputation have
been destroyed by the vile seducer,
God is a holy and just God — faithful : publish their wrongs ; let illegitimate
and true in all His words, and will [children, if Utah affords them, come
in nowise vary from that which He ; forth as a public monument of our
hath said; for judgment goeth before j disgrace ; if a house of ill-fame can
His face, and justice and righteous- be Ibund throughout the length and
ness is the habitation of His throne!
O ye Saints of the last days, do you
realize the fearful — the infinitely im-
portant— the eternal responsibilities
which rest upon you, to watch over
yourselves, your children, and all
who are placed under your charge ?
Do you realize that your condemna-
breadth of our territory, then let th".
Saints hide their laces in shame, and
the sons and daughters of Utah blush
before the Heavens ; if an adulterer
or seducer of female virtue, can be
found in all that land, then let the eld-
ers be clad in sackcloth, and the Saints
put on the garments of mourning, and
tion and punishment will be in pro- weep before the Lord, day and night,
portion to the light and knowledge i until the evil be taken from their midst,
against which you sin ? If you fully j But have not some of the Saints
understand and appreciate the warn- in Utah more wives than one ? Yes :
ings which you have received, happy and they take good care of them too;
are you, if you give heed and obey and teach them and their children the
the voice of the Lord your God, tor
great shall be your reward, and eter-
nal shall be your glory. But if any
among you harden their hearts, and
yield themselves unto the wicked
lusts of their flesh, and suffer them-
selves to be defiled by cherishing in
their minds unvirtuous thoughts and
unholy desires, they shall speedily
be visited by sore judgments, and
their names shall be blotted out from
under heaven, and they shall be
thrust down to hell, where there is
great principles of virtue and holiness
by example as well as hy precept.
But is it not sinful, for a man to have
more than one wife living at the same
time ? If it is, the Bible has not told
us of it. But is it not contrary to the
christian religion ? If it is, the chris-
tian religion has not revealed it as an
evil. But do you not really think that
it is contrary to the will of God for a
man, in these days, to take a plurality
of wives ? Yes. unless God shall
give them to him by a revelation
30
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
through a holy prophet. Is it not
contrary to the Constitution and laws
of the United States for the the cit-
izens of Utah to practicethe plural,
ity of wives? No ; neither the Con-
stitution nor the laws of the United
States, have said anything on the sub-
ject of marriage or domestic relations
• But is it not contrary to the laws of
the Territory? No; the Legislature
of that Territory do not feel disposed
to debar her citizens of any blessings
or privileges, enjoyed under the san-
ction of the Almighty, by holy pro-
phets and patriarchs of old.
Do you believe that the Book of
Mormon is a divine revelation ? We
do. Does that book teach the doc-
trine of plurality of wives? It does
not. Does the Lord in that book for-
bid the plurality doctrine ? He forbid
the ancient Nephites to have any
more than one wife. What does the
Book of Mormon say on this subject?
It says, as follows, " Thus saith the
Lord, I have led this people forth out
of the land of Jerusalem by the power
of mine arm, that 1 might raise up
unto me a righteous branch from the
fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore,
I, the Lord God, will not suffer that
this people shall do like unto them of
old. Wherefore, my brethren, hear
me, and hearken to the word of the
Lord ; for there shall nut any man
among you have save it be one wife ;
and concubines he shall have none."
(Bouk of Jacob, 2 : 6.) Why were
the ancient Nephites restricted to the
one wife system ? Because, first, the
number of males and females among
them, at the time the command was
given, was about equal. Secondly,
there was no probability that judg-
ments, wars, or any other calamities
which were to befall their nation,
would produce a disproportionate
number of males and females. Third-
ly, this small remnant of the tribe of
Joseph were, at that time, about
equally righteous ; and one was about
as capable of raising up a family in
righteousness as another. And last-
ly, the Lord, Himself, informs them,
in the same connection with the quo-
tation which I have just made, that if
He would have them practice differ-
ently from what He had previously
taught them, it must be by his com-
mand. It reads as follows : " For if
I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise
up seed unto me, I will command my
people ; otherwise, they shall hearken
unto these things." Thus we see,
that a man among the Nephites, by
the law of God, had no right to take
more than one wife, unless the Lord
should command for the purpose of
raising up seed unto Himself. With-
out such a command, they were strict-
ly limited to the one wife doctrine :
"otherwise" saks the Lord, "they shall
hearken vnto these things ; " that is,
without an express command, they
should hearken to the law, limiting them
to one wife. So it is in this church
of Latter Day Saints, every man is
strictly limited to one wife, unless the
Lord, through the President and Pro-
phet of the Church, gives a revela-
tion permitting him to take more.
Without such a revelation it would
be sinful, according to the Book of
Mormon, which this church are re-
quired to obey. Hence, the Book of
Mormon is somewhat more strict than
the Bible ; for there is nothing in the
Bible that limits mankind to one
wife, but the Book of Mormon does
absolutely forbid a man to have more
than one wife, unless God shall com-
mand otherwise.
Now in the early rise of this church,
the Lord gave no command unto any
of His servants authorizing them to
take more than one wife, but on the
contrary, said unto them that they
should give heed to that which was
written in the book of Mormon ;
therefore, they were under the strict-
est obligations to confine themselves
to one wife, until a commandment
came to the contrary, which the
Lord did not see proper to give unto
any of them, until about thirteen
years after the first organization of
the church. The church, therefore,
are still restricted, by the severest
penalties, to one wife, according to
the Book of Mormon, unless in indi-
vidual cases where the Lord shall,
by revelation, direct otherwise.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
31
No man in Utah, who already has
a wife, and who may desire to obtain
another, has any right to make any
propositions of marriage to a lady,
until he has consulted the President
over the whole church, and through
him, obtains a revelation from God, j
as to whether it would be pleasing
in His sight. If he is forbidden by
revelation, that ends the matter : if,
by revelation, the privelege is grant,
ed, he still has no right to consult
the feelings of the young lady, until
he has obtained the approbation of her
her parents, provided they are living
in Utah ; if their consent cannot be
obtained, this also ends the matter.
But if the parents or guardians freely
give their consent, then he may make
propositions of marriage to the young
lady ; if she refuse these propositions,
this also ends the matter ; but if she
accept, a day is generally set apart
by the parties for the marriage cere-
mony to be celebrated. It is neces-
sary to state, that before any man
takes the least step towards getting
another wife, it is his duty to consult
the feelings of the wife which he al-
ready has, and obtain her consent, as
recorded in the 24th paragraph of
the revelation, published in the first
No. of "The Seer."
When the day set apart for the
solemnization ot the marriage cere-
mony has arrived, the bridegroom,
and his wife, and also the bride, to-
getrier with their relatives, and such
other guests as may be invited, as-
semble at the place which they have
appointed. The scribe then proceeds
to take the names, ages, native towns,
counties, States, and countries of the
parties to be married, which he care-
fully enters on record. The Presi-
dent, who is the Prophet, Seer, and
Revelator over the whole church
throughoat the world, and who alone
holds the keys of authority in this
solemn ordinance, ^as recorded in the
2d and 5th paragraphs of the Reve-
lation on Marriage,) — calls upon the
bridegroom, and his wife, and the
bride to arise, which they do, fronting
the President. The wife stands on
the left hand of her husband, while
the bride stands on her left. The
President, then, puts this question
to the wife: "Are you willing to
give this woman to your husband to
be his lawful and wedded wife for
time and for all eternity ? If you are,
you will manifest it by placing her
right hand within the right hand of
your husband." The right hands of.
the bridegroom and bride, being thus
joined, the wife takes her husband by
the left arm, as if in the attitude of
walking : the President, then, pro-
ceeds to ask the following question
of the man : Do you brother, (calling
him byname,) take sister, (calling the
bride by her name,) by the right hand
to receive her unto yourself to be
your lawful and wedded wife, and
you to be her lawful and wedded hus-
band for time and for all eternity,
with a covenant and promise, on your
part, that you will fulfil all the laws,
rites, and ordinances, pertaining to
this holy matrimony, in the new and
everlasting covenant, doing this in
the presence of God, angels, and
these witnesses of your own free will
and choice ?" The bridegroom an-
swers, yes. The President, then,
puts the question to the bride : " Do
you, sister, (calling her by name,)
take brother, (calling him by name,)
by the right hand, and give yourself
to him, to be his lawful and wedded
wife for time and for all eternity with
a covenant and promise, on your part,
that you will fulfil all the laws, rites,
and ordinances, pertaining to this
holy matrimony, in the new and
everlasting covenant, doing this in
the presence of God, angels, and
these witnesses of your own free will
and choice ?" The bride answers,
yes. The President then says, " In
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and by the authority of the Holy
i riesthood, I pronounce you legally
and lawfully husband and wife for
time and for all eternity ; and I seal
j upon you the blessings of the holy
i resurrection, with power to come
forth in the morning of the first re-
I surrection, clothed with glory, immor-
; tality, and eternal lives ; and I seal
I upon you the blessings of thrones,
32 CATALOGUE OF WORKS, CONTENTS, &C.
and dominions, and principalities, and
powers, and exaltations, together with
the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, and say unto you be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth,
that you may have joy and rejoicing
in your posterity in the day of the
Lord Jesus. All these blessings, to-
gether with all other blessings per-
taining to the new and everlasting
covenant, I seal upon your heads,
through your faithfulness unto the
end, by the authority of the Holy
Priesthood, in the name of the Fa-
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, Amen-" The scribe, then,
enters on che general record, the date
and place of the marriage, together
with the names of two or three wit-
nesses who were present.
(To be continued.)
A CATALOGUE OF WORKS,
FOn SALE BT
ORSON PRATT, WASHINGTON, D. C,
AND
By the principal Booksellers in the United States and Great Britain.
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The Book of Mormon in French (he Livre dt Mormon)— $1 25.
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The Book of Mormon in Italian (// Libro di Mormon)— grained roan, $1 50.
The Book of Doctrine and Covenants— morocco extra, $2; calf, gilt edges, $1 50;
grained roan, 95 cts.
The Book of Doctrine and Covenants in Welsh (Athrawiaeih a Chyfammodau) —
grained roan, $1 25.
The Pearl of Great Price, 30 cts.
Hymn Book— morocco extra, $1 25; calf, gilt edges, 80 cts; calf, 60 cts; roan em-
bossed, 50 cts.
Voice of Warning — morocco extra, $1 25; calf, 80 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
The Government of God — 50 cents.
Spencer's Letters — morocco extra, $1 25; calf, 80 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
The Millennial Star, (vol. XV,) weekly, 5 cents.
L'Etode du Deseret, (monthly at Paris,) 10 cents.
PAMPHLETS BY ORSON PRATT.
O. Pratt's Works, &c, bound, $1 50.
Divine Authority; or was Joseph Smith sent of God? — 10 cents.
Remarkable Visions — 10 cents.
Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon — 6 parts, 10 cents each.
Kingdom of God — parts 1, 2, and 3, 5 cents each.
Do do part 4, 10 cents.
New Jerusalem; or, the Fulfilment of Modern Prophecy — 15 cts.
Reply to " Remaiks on Mormonism " — 10 cts.
Absurdities of I m materialism — 20 cts.
Great First Cause ; or, The Self- moving Forces of the Universe — 10 cts.
The Seer, (monthly,) 10 cts, or, $1 per year, in advance.
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 17
Celestial Marriage 25
Catalogue of Works 33
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published by Orson Pratt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance,
«M!
hit
111 ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when lie
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvni, 3.
Vol. I.
MARCH, 1853.
No. 3.
FIGURE AND MAGNITUDE OF SPIRITS.
Both animals and vegetables con-
sist of two substances, very differ- 1
<ent in their nature, viz : body and
spirit. The body is composed of dif-
ferent kinds of matter, such as oxygen, !
hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, lime, <kc. j
These, united or chemically com- ,
bined, form, in animals, flesh, bones,
arteries, veins, nerves, muscles, sin- '
ews, skin, and all the various parts j
of the animal tabernacle; and these i
parts, being properly organized, form
the physical peculiarities which dis- j
tinguish the species. By a combina-
tion and organization of the above
elements, the roots, trunks, branches,
leaves, &c, of trees and other vege-
tables, are formed. Connected with
these corporeal bodies, composed of
the coarser materials of nature, there
is another material substance called
spirit, of a more refined nature, pos-
sessing some properties in common
with other matter, and other qualities
far superior to other matter. "Vege-
table and animal life is nothing more
ner less than vegetable and animal
spirit. The spirit of a vegetable is
in the same image and likeness of its
tabernacle, and of the same magni-
tude, for it fills every part thereof. It
is capable of existing in an organized
form before it enters its vegetable
house, and also after it departs from
it. If the spirit of an apple tree were
rendered visible when separated from
its natural tabernacle, it would appear
in the form, likeness, and magnitude
of the natural apple tree; and so it is
with the spirit of every other tree, or
herb, or blade of grass, its shape, its
magnitude, and its appearance, re-
semble the natural tabernacle intend-
ed for its residence. It is the organ-
ized spirit that manifests life; it is
the spirit that animates the vegeta-
ble, that causes it to grow, that
shapes its different parts, that pre-
serves it from decaying, that enables
it to bud and blossom and bring forth
seed. When the spiritual vegetable
withdraws, the natural one decays
and returns to its original elements ;
but its spirit, being a living sub-
stance, remains in its organized form,
capable of happiness in its own
sphere, and will again inhabit a ce-
lestial tabernacle when all things are
made new. The spirits offish, birds,
beasts, insects, and of man, are in
the image and likeness of their natu-
ral bodies of flesh and bones, and of
the same magnitude, filling every part
of the same. It is this spiritual sub-
stance, and not the body, that sees,
hears, tastes, smells, feels, thinks,
enjoys, suffers, and manifests every
other affection or passion character-
istic of the animal creation. It is this
self-moving, powerful substance, that
quickens, animates, and moves the
natural body — that forms and fashions
every part — that preserves the organ-
ization from decay and death. None
34
FIGURE AND MAGNITUDE OF SPIRITS.
of the spirits of the whole animal
creation are disorganized by the death
of the body, but are capable of feel-
ing, thinking, moving, enjoying, suf.
fering, out ot the body as well as in
it. They are eternal, and will exist
forever, capable of joy and happiness.
The spirits of both vegetables
and animals are invisible to the nat-
ural eye ; we, therefore, do not know
or comprehend their nature as per-
fectly as we do many other substances
which are more directly tangible to
our senses ; for this reason Solomon
inquires, " Who knoweth the spirit of
man that goeth upward, and the spirit
of the beast that goeth downward."
(Eccles. 3: 31.) By this passage
Solomon shows plainly that the beast
has a spirit as well as man.
That vegetables as well as ani-
animals have spirits, is clearly shown
from the fact that they have capaci-
ties for joy and rejoicing. The
Psalmist says, " Let the field be joy-
ful and all that is therein : then shall
all the trees of the wood rejoice be-
fore the Lord : for He cometh, for He
cometh to judge the earth." (Psalm
96 : 12, 13.) As "all that is in ihe
field," and " all the trees of the wood
rejoice," we are compelled to believe
that every vegetable, whether great
or small, has a living intelligent spirit
capable of feeling, knowing, and re-
joicing in its sphere. One of the in-
spired writers informs us that the an-
imal creation are endowed with great
wisdom. He says, " There be four
things which are little upon the earth,
but they are exceeding wise : the ants
are a people not strong, yet they pre-
pare their meat in the summer ; the
conies are but a feeble folk, yet make
they their houses in the rocks ; the
locusts have no king, yet go they forth
all of them by bands ; the spider
taketh hold with her hands, and is in
kings' palaces." (Prov. 30 : 24-28.)
John heard the whole animal creation
praising God, and making use of in-
telligent language. He declares that
"every creature which is in Heaven
and on the earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all
that are in them, heard 1 saying,
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and
power, be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb forever
and ever." (Rev. 5: 13.) From
these passages we learn that every
fowl and fish, beast and creeping
thing, will be in the possession of
great wisdom and knowledge ; they
will know about God and His throne,
and about the Lamb, and they will
talk, in an intelligent manner, about
His " honor, and glory, and power."
Now they could not possess wisdom,
knowledge, language, and under-
standing, concerning the attributes of
God and of His Son, unless they have
an intelligent mind or spirit as vreJl as
man.
Having proved that each indi-
vidual of the vegetable and animal
kingdom contains a living spirit, pos-
sessed of intelligent capacities, let us
next inquire concerning the shape or
form of these spirits, as represented
in various parts of the Scriptures.
The immaterialist considers all spir-
itual substance to have neither form,
nor magnitude, nor any relation to
space or duration.* We shall not at-
tempt in this article to refute these
absurd notions, but shall assume that
all spiritual substance is material,
having form, and magnitude, and all
the essential properties of other mat-
ter; and that in addition to these, it
possesses the capacities of intelli-
gence and self motion.
That the form of the spirit is in
the likeness of the tabernacle, is
evident from the description of the
spirit of Samuel, which appeared to
Saul and conversed with him. The
spirit of Samuel was first seen by the
woman with whom Saul was conver-
sing. " And when the woman saw
Samuel, she cried with a loud voice :
and the woman spake to Saul, saying,
Why hast thou deceived me ? for thou
art Saul. And the king said unto her,
Be not afraid : for what sawest thou ?
And the woman said unto Saul. I saw
gods ascending out of the earth. And
he said unto her, What FORM is he
* See my treatise on the Absurdities of
Immaterialism.
FIGURE AND MAGNITUDE OF SPIRITS.
35
of? And she said, An old man i spirits must have had form, or John
cometh up, and he is covered with a could not have seen them : they were
mantle. And Saul perceived that it capable of speaking with a loud voice
was Samuel, and he stooped with his and of wearing while robes. f a
face to the ground and bowed him
self." (1 Sam. 28: 12-14.) It will
spirit have no form, it could neither
peak nor wear clothing. We have
be perceived that the form of Sam- \ already seen that the spirit ofSamuel
uel's spirit was that of " an old man,"1 was clothed with a mantle, while
" covered with a mantle." Now this ■ those that John saw, had white robes
could not have been Samuel's body, given to them. These passages
for that was mouldering in the grave ; j prove that the spirits of men are in
therefore it must have been his spirit, the shape or image of the fleshly taber-
From the form which this spirit had
Saul was enabled to "perceive that
it was Sajnuel." Saul, after bowing
down to the ground with reverence
before Samuel, entered into conver-
sation with him ; and Samuel pro-
phesied unto him, and told him what
should befal Israel, and that he and
his sons should be slain the next day
and come into the spiritual world with
him.
When the three Hebrews were
cast into the fiery furnace, Nebuchad-
nezzar was astonished, "and said,
lo ! I see four men loose, walking in
the midst of the fire, and they have
no hurt ; and the FORM of the fourth
is like unto the Son of God." (Dan.
3 : 25.) This fourth personage walk-
ing in the fire must have been the
spiritual body of the Son of God, or
some other spiritual body resembling
him in form. The form of this spir-
itual body resembles also the form of
man, hence he exclaimed, " I see four
men loose."
The revelator, John, saw the
nacle, and that the spirit of the Son
of God, before he took upon himself
flesh, did resemble man, and was in
the likeness or shape of his fleshly
body, into which he afterwards en-
tered.
The shape or form of the spirits
of beasts is in the image of their
natural bodies. When Elijah was
escorted to heaven, he had the honor
of riding in a chariot drawn by horses.
(2 Kings 2: 11, 12.) When the
king of Syria sent horses and char-
iots, and a great host, to take Elisha,
the prophet, and carry him a prisoner
into the Syrian army, the servant of
the prophet, seeing his master sur-
rounded by such a formidable host,
was very much alarmed for his safety,
and cried out, "Alas, my master ! how
shall we do ? And he answered,
Fear not : for they that be with us
are more than they that be with them.
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I
pray thee open his eyes that he may
see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man, and he saw; and,
spirits of the martyrs, which he de- behold, the mountain was full of
scribes as follows : " And when he
had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which they held ; and they
cried with a loud voice saying, How
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou
not judge and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth? And
white robes were given unto every
one of them ; and it was said unto
them that they should rest yet for a
little season until their fellow ser-
vants and their brethren, that should
be killed as they were, should be ful-
HORSES and chariots of fire round
about Elisha." (2 Kings 6 : 15-17.)
These horses shone with the bril-
liancy of fire. They were spiritual
horses, under the management and
control of an army of spirits riding in
chariots. These spirits of horses
must have been in the same shape as
the natural bodies of horses, or else
they would not have been recognised
as belonging to that species of ani-
mals. They were exceedingly nu-
merous, so that " the mountain was
full" of them.
John says, " I saw Heaven open.
filled." (Rev. 6 : 9-11.) These I ed, and behold a WHITE HORSE ;
36
FIGURE AND MAGNITUDE OF SPIRITS.
and He that sat upon him was
was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness He doeth judge and
make war." " And the armies which
were in Heaven followed Him upon
WHITE HORSES, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean." — Rev. 19 :
II, 14. Thus, we perceive, that the
Son of God, himself, and all the armies
of Heaven, occasionally ride on horse-
back ; and, therefore, there must be
thousands of millions of horses in
Heaven ; and as no horses, pertain-
ing to this earth, had then received a
resurrection, these, doubtless, were
the spiritual bodies of horses whose
natural bodies had returned to the
dust.
As we have proved, that the spir-
its of men, and of horses, and of all
manner of beasts, and of creep-
ing things, and of birds, are in the
shape of their mortal tabernacles, it
is reasonable to infer, analogically,
that the spirits of grass, of herbs,
and of trees, are in the form of the
natural bodies of the respective vege-
tables which they once inhabited ;
and that those vegetables which are
now living, are inhabited by living
spirits in the form of themselves.
All spirits have magnitude, as
well as form, which can be clearly
shown from the Scriptures. Those
passages, that have been already
quoted, proving that spirits have form,
also prove that they have magnitude.
The Spirit of Samuel, as seen by
Saul, and the spirit of the Son of
God, walking in the fiery furnace,
were, both, of the size of men. The
spirits of horses, beasts, birds, and
creeping things, were, not only of
the shape of their respective natural
bodies, but were evidently of the
same size as those bodies when full
grown ; otherwise they would have
been represented, as infants instead
of men, as colts instead of horses, &c.
The tabernacles of both animals
and vegetables continue to grow
or increase in size, until they attain
to the original magnitude of their
respective spirits, after which the
growth ceases. When the spirit
first takes possession of the vegeta-
ble or animal seed or embryo, it con-
tracts itself into a bulk of the same
dimension as the seed or tabernacle
into which it enters : this is proved
from the feet, that the spiritual body
of the Son of God, seen by Nebuchad-
nezzar, was of the size of man, and
yet this same spiritual body was
afterwards sufficiently contracted to
enter into, and to be wholly contained
within an infant tabernacle. In like
manner, every other spirit, whether
vegetable or animal, is of the full size
of the prospective tabernacle, when
it shall have attained its full growth ;
and, therefore, when it first enters
the same, it must, like the spiritual
body of the Son of God, be greatly
diminished from its original dimen-
sions. Spirits, therefore, must be
composed of substances, highly elas-
tic in their nature, that is, they have
the power to resume their former
dimensions, as additional matter is
secreted for the enlargement of their
tabernacles. It is this expanding
force, exerted by the spirit, which
gradually developes the tabernacle
as the necessary materials are sup-
plied.
When the limb of a tree or of
an animal is severed from the main
body, the spirit, occupying that
limb, is not severed from the other
parts of the spirit, but immediately
contracts itself into the living por-
tions of the body, leaving the limb
to decay. The contraction of spirit-
ual bodies is still further proved, from
the fact, that a legion of wicked
spirits actually huddled themselves
together in the tabernacle of one
man. These wicked spirits, being
fallen angels, were actually in the
shape and size of the spirits of men j
therefore, they must have been ex-
ceedingly contracted to have all en-
tered one human body.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
(Continued.)
23. The celestial beings who dwell
in the Heaven from which we came,
having been raised from the grave, in
a former world, and having been filled
with all the fulness of these eternal at-
tributes, are called Gods, because the
fulness of God dwells in each. Both
the males and the females enjoy this
fulness. The celestial vegetables and
fruits which grow out of the soil of
this redeemed Heaven, constitute the
food of the Gods. This food differs
from the food derived from the vege-
tables of a fallen world : the latter are
converted into blood, which, circulat-
ing in the veins and arteries, pro-
duces flesh and bones of a mortal
nature, having a constant tendency
to decay: while the former, or celes-
tial vegetables, are, when digested in
the stomach, converted into a fluid,
which, in its nature, is spiritual, and
which, circulating in the veins and
arteries of the celestial male and fe-
male, preserves their tabernacles from
decay and death. Earthly vege-
tables form blood, and blood forms
flesh and bones; celestial vegetables,
when digested, form a spiritual fluid
which gives immortality and eternal
iifetothe organization in which it flows.
24. Fallen beings beget child-
ren whose bodies are constituted of
flesh and bones, being formed out of
the blood circulating in the veins of
the parents. Celestial beings beget
children, composed of the fluid which
circulates in their veins, which is
spiritual, therefore, their children
must be spirits, and not flesh and
bones. This is the origin of our
spiritual organization in Heaven.
The spirits of all mankind, destined
for this earth, were begotten by a
father, and born of a mother in Hea-
ven, long anterior to the formation of
this world. The personages of the
father and mother of our spirits, had
a beginning to their organization,
but the fulness of truth (which is
God) that dwells in them, had no be-
ginning; being "from everlasting to
everlasting." (Psalm 90 : 2.)
25. In the Heaven where our
spirits were born, there are many
Gods, each one of whom has his own
wife or wives which were given to
him previous to his redemption, while
yet in his mortal state. Each God,
through his wife or wives, raises up
a numerous family of sons and daugh-
ters ; indeed, there will be no end to
the increase of his own children : for
each father and mother will be in a
condition to multiply forever and ever.
As soon as each God has begotten
many millions of male and female
spirits, and his Heavenly inheritance
becomes too small, to comfortably ac-
commodate his great family, he, in
connection with his sons, organizes a
new worW, after a similar order to the
one which we now inhabit, where he
sends both the male and female
spirits to inhabit tabernacles of flesh
and bones. Thus each God forms a
world for the accommodationofhisown
sons and daughters who are sent
forth in their times and seasons, and
generations to be born into the same.
The inhabiiants of each world are
required to reverence, adore, and
worship their own personal father
who dwells in the Heaven which they
formerly inhabited.
26. When a world is redeemed
from its fallen state, and made into a
Heaven, all the animal creation are
raised from the dead, and become ce-
lestial and immortal. The food of
these animals is derived from the
vegetables, growing on a celestial
soil ; consequently, it is not converted
into blood, but into spirit which cir-
culates in the veins of these animals ;
therefore, their offspring will be
spiritual bodies, instead of flesh and
bones. Thus the spirits of beasts, of
fowls, and of all living creatures, are
the offspring of the beasts, fowls, and
creatures which have been redeemed
or raised from the dead, and which
will multiply spirits, according to their
respective species, forever and ever.
27. As these spiritual bodies, in
all their varieties and species, become
38
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
numerous in Heaven, each God will
send those under hisjurisdiction to take
bodies of flesh and bones on the same
world to which he sends his own sons
and daughters. As each God is " The
God of the spirits of all flesh," per-
taining to the world which he forms ;
and as he holds supreme dominion over
them in Heaven, when he sends them
into a temporal or terrestrial world,
he commits this dominion into the
hands of his sons and daughters,
which inhabit the same.
28. When the world is redeemed,
the vegetable creation is redeemed
and made new, as well as the ani-
mal ; and when planted in a celestial
soil, each vegetable derives its nour-
ishment therefrom ; and the fluid,
thus derived, circulates in the pores
and cells of the vegetable tabernacle,
and preserves it from decay and
death ; this same fluid, thus circu-
lating, forms a spiritual seed, which
planted, grows into a spiritual vege-
table ; this differs from the parent
vegetable, in that it has no taber-
nacle. This is the origin of spiritual
vegetables in Heaven. These spiri-
tual vegetables are sent from Hea-
ven to the terrestrial worlds, where,
like animals, they take natural taber.
nacles, which become food for the
sustenance of the natural tabernacles
of the animal creation. Thus the
spirits of both vegetables and ani-
mals are the offspring of male and
female parents which have been
raised from the dead, or redeemed
from a fallen condition, with the
world upon which they dwelt.
29. The number of the sons and
daughters of God, born in Heaven
before this earth was formed, is not
known by us. They must have been
exceedingly numerous, as may be
perceived, by taking into considera-
tion the vast numbers which have
already come from Heaven, and
peopled our planet, during the past
six thousand years. The amount of
population now on the globe, is es-
timated in round numbers at one
thousand million. If we take this
estimation for the average number
per century, during the seven thou-
'sand years of its temporal existence,,
it will amount to seventy thousand
millions. During the early age of
the world, there were many centuries
in which the amount of population
would fall short of this average; but
during the Millennium, or the last
age of the world, the population
will, probably, far exceed this aver-
age. Seventy thousand million,
therefore, is a rough approximation
to the number of inhabitants which
the Lord destined to dwell in the
flesh on this earth. It will be seen,
from this estimation, that about
seventy thousand million sons and
daughters were born in Heaven, and
kept their first estate, and were
counted worthy to have a new world
made for them, wherein they were
permitted to receive bodies of flesh
and bones, and thus enter upon their
second estate.
30. It must be remembered, that
seventy thousand million, however
great the number may appear to us,
are but two-thirds of the vast family
of spirits who were begotten before
the foundation of the world : the
other third part of the family did not
keep the first estate. Add to seventy
thousand million, the third part which
fell, namely, thirty-five thousand mil-
lion, and the sum amounts to one hun-
dred and five thousand million which
was the approximate number of the
sons and daughters of God in Heaven
before the rebellion which broke out
among them.
31. If we admit that one person-
age was the Father of all this great
family, and that they were all born of
the same Mother, the period of time
intervening between the birth of the
oldest and the youngest spirit must
have been immense. If we suppose,
as an average, that only one year in-
tervened between each birth, then it
would have required, over one hundred
thousand million of years for the same
Mother to have given birth to this
vast family. The law, regulating
the formation of the embryo spirit,
may, as it regards time, differ con-
siderably from the period required for
the formation of the infant tabernacle
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
39
of flesh. Should the period between
each birth, be one hundred times
shorter than what is required in this
world, (which is very improbable,)
it would still require over one thou-
sand million of years to raise up such
a numerous progeny. But as hea-
venly things are, in many respects,
typical of earthly, it is altogether
probable that the period required for
the formation of the infant spirit, is
of the same length as that required
in this world for the organization of
the infant tabernacle.
32. If the Father of these spirits,
prior to his redemption, had secured
to himself, through the everlasting
covenant of marriage, many wives,
as the prophet David did in our world,
the period required to people a world
would be shorter, within certain lim-
its, in proportion to the number of
wives. For instance, if it required
one hundred thousand million of years
to people a world like this, as above
stated, it is evident that, with a hun-
dred wives, this period would be re-
duced to only one thousand million of
years. Therefore, a Father, with
these facilities, could increase his
kingdoms with his own children, in a
hundred fold ratio above that of
another who had only secured to him-
self one wife. As yet, we have only
spoken of the hundred fold ratio as
applied to his own children ; but now
let us endeavor to form some faint
idea of the multiplied increase of
worlds peopled by his grandchildren,
over which he, of course, would hold
authority and dominion as the Grand
Patriarch of the endless generations
of his posterity. If, out of the whole
population of the first redeemed world,
only one million of sons were re-
deemed to the fulness of all the privi-
leges and glory of their Father, they,
in their turn, would now be prepared
to multiply and people worlds the
same as their Father, being made
like him and one with him. While
their Father, therefore, was peopling
the second world, these million of re-
deemed sons would people one mil-
lion of worlds. Each of these worlds
would be redeemed and glorified, and
become celestial worlds or heavens.
Thus there would be the " Heaven
of Heavens" inhabited by the Grand
Patriarch and those of the same order
with him; secondly, there would be
the two redeemed worlds or heavens
inhabited by his children ; and, third-
ly, there would be the one million of
heavens inhabited by his grandchil-
dren. We have only estimated, as
yet, the second generation of worlds.
If the estimate be carried slill further
in the same ratio, it will be found
that the number in the third genera-
tion amounts to one billion three mil-
lion and three worlds. The fourth
generation would people over a tril-
lion, and the fifth over a quadrillion
of worlds; while the one-hundredth,
generation would people more worlds
than could be expressed by raising
one million to the ninety-ninth power.
Any mathematician who is able to
enumerate a series of 595 figures,
will be able to give a very close ap-
proximation to the number of woilds
peopled by the descendants of one
Father in one hundred thousand mil-
lion of years, according to the aver-
age ratio given above. Now this is
the period in which only one world
could be peopled with one wife.
While the Patriarch with his hundred
wives, would multiply worlds on
worlds, systems on systems, more
numerous than the dust of all the
visible bodies of the universe, and
people them with his descendants to
the hundredth generation of worlds;
the other, who had only secured to
himself one wife, would in the same
period, just barely have peopled one
world.
33. Each father gives laws to his
family, adapted to the degree of
knowledge which they possess. The
laws given to impart the ideas of
right and wrong to infant spirits, are
of a more simple nature than those
ordained for the government of spirits
after they have acquired this knowl-
edge. Each law has its appropriate
penalty affixed, according to the na-
ture of the law and the amount of
knowledge possessed by the beings
whom it is intended to govern. The
40
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
penalties or chastisements upon in-
fant or youthful spirits, while learning
to distinguish between virtue and
vice, are not as severe as those in-
flicted upon disobedient spirits who
have already acquired these ideas.
After having learned the nature of
right and wrong in some things, laws
will be given teaching them their
duties towards their parents and to-
wards each other as brother and sis-
ter spirits, and towards the angels
who are servants to their parents, and
towards other Gods and their children
and servants who reside in the same
heaven. Also, some spirits will be
many thousand years older than oth-
ers ; and, therefore, if they have been
diligent in observing the laws given
to them, they will be far more intel-
ligent than their younger brethren.
For instance, Jesus, being " the First
Born of every creature," would have
many millions of years experience in
advance of his younger brethren, pro-
viding that they were all begotten by
the same Father. Now those that
were born soon after Him would have
nearly the same amount of expe-
rience. And it is reasonable to sup-
pose that these spirits would be divi-
ded into classes, according to their age
and the knowledge they had gained
through obedience to the laws of their
father, and that lessons of instruction
would be imparted to each class, and
still higher laws be unfolded, to gov-
ern them, and that as their knowledge
increased so would their responsibil-
ities also increase.
34. The period of time required to
educate spirits seems to have been
of far greater duration than the period
allotted to us in our second estate.
Some of the older spirits must have
existed millions of years in their first
estate, before they were privileged to
enter this world. Now during this
vast period they must have had ample
opportunity of becoming deeply
learned in all the laws of spiritual ex-
istence. Dwelling in the presence
of their Father, and having access to
all His servants, the angels, and the
privileges of associating with all the
Gods who resided in the same Hea-
ven and who were of the same order
as their Father, they must have had
facilities for acquiring information far
beyond anything enjoyed in this pro-
bation. In that high and heavenly
school they had the opportunities of
inquiring of their Father all about the
elements of which the worlds were
constructed, and how these elements
acted upon one another, and concern-
ing all the infinity of laws which had
been given to govern them in their
action, their combinations, their
unions, and their organizations ; and
in fine, they must have been in-
structed in all the art and science of
world making.
35. There were some things, how-
ever, which these spirits could not
learn while they remained in their
first estate : they could not learn the
feelings and sensations of spirits em-
bodied in tabernacles of flesh and
bones. An idea of these feelings and
sensations could not be imparted to
them by teaching, nor by any other
means whatsoever. No power of
language or signs could give them
the most distant idea of them. An
idea of those feelings and sensations
can only be obtained by actual expe-
rience. They might be described to
them for millions of ages, and yet
without being placed in a condition
to experience them for themselves,
they never could form any ideas con-
cerning them. This may be illustra-
ted by supposing an infant to be born
in a dungeon where not the least ray
of light was ever permitted to enter.
This infant might grow up to man-
hood with the Organs of vision per-
fect, but he would have no idea what-
ever of the sensation of seeing — he
could form no conception of light or
of the beauty of the various colors of
light, though this sensation might be
described to him for one hundred
years, yet no power of language could
convey to him the faintest idea of red
or green, or blue, or yellow, or of
anything else connected with the sen-
sations produced by light. These
feelings could only be learned by ac-
tual experience ; then, and not till
then, would he know anything about
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
41
it. So, likewise, there are many j flesh and bones that can only be
feelings and sensations arising from learned by experience,
the intimate connexion of spirits with | (To be continued.)
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE-
(Continued.)
In the Revelation on Marriage,
we are informed that there is never
but one man on the earth at the same
time who holds ihe keys to minister
the ceremony of marriage for time
and for all eternity, and to seal the
same on earth with authority, so that
it may be acknowledged and sealed
in Heaven. The keys of authority
are conferred by revelation, and by
the holy annointing, upon the Prophet,
Seer, and Revelator of the church,
who is the President over all the
saints throughout the world. In
cases where it is inconvenient for
him to attend, he has the authority to
appoint others to officiate in his stead.
Rut in all cases of this nature, he
must be consulted by the parties, and
his sanction be obtained.
When a man who has a wife,
teaches her the law of God, as re-
vealed to the ancient patriarchs, and
as manifested by new revelation, and
she refuses to give her consent for
him to marry another according to
that law, then, it becomes necessary,
for her to state before the President
the reasons why she withholds her
consent ; if her reasons are sufficient
and justifiable and the husband is
found in the fault, or in transgression,
then, he is not permitted to take
any step in regard to obtaining
another. Rut if the wife can show
no good reason why she refuses to
comply with the law which was given
unto Sarah of old, then it is lawful
for her husband, if permitted by reve-
lation through the prophet, to be
married to others without her con-
sent, and he will be justified, and
she will be condemned, because she
did not give them unto him, as Sarah
gave Hagar to Abraham, and as
Rachel and Leah gave Bilhah and
Zilpah to their husband, Jacob.
It is the duty of a man who takes
another wife to look after her wel-
fare and happiness, and to provide
for her the comforts of life the same
as for the first ; for the Scripture, in
speaking of such a man, says, "If
he take him another wife ; her food,
her raimant, and her duty of mar-
riage, shall he not diminish." (Exo-
dus 21 : 10,)
There is no particular rule, as re-
gards the residence of the different
branches of a family. It is very
frequently the case that they all re-
side in the same dwelling, and take
hold unitedly and with the greatest
cheerfulness, of the different branches
of household or domestic business,
eating at the same table, and kindly
looking after each others welfare,
while the greatest peace and har-
mony prevail year after year. Their
children play and associate together
with the greatest affection as brothers
and sisters ; while each mother ap-
parently manifests as much kindness
and tender regard for the children of
the others, as for her own. And
morning and evening, when the hus-
band calls together his family to wor-
ship the Lord and call upon his name,
they all bow the knee, and, with the
greatest union of feeling, offer their
devotions to the Most High.
It is sometimes the case that the
husband provides for his wives sepa-
rate habitations, as Jacob did for his
four wives, each of whom had a
separate tent. (See Genesis, 31 :
33.) Where all the wives are
equally faithful, the husband gene-
rally endeavors to treat them all
without partiality.
Jealousy is an evil with which
the saints in Utah are but seldom
troubled : it is an evil that is not
countenanced by either male or
42
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
female ; and should any indulge such
a passion, they would bring a dis-
grace and reproach upon themselves
which they could not easily wipe
away. And indeed, it is very rare,
that there are any causes for jealousy;
for the citizens of that Territory
think more of their virtue than they
do of their lives. They know, that
if they have any connections out of
the marriage covenant, they not only
forfeit their lives by the law of God,
but they forfeit their salvation also.
With such views resting upon the
minds of both old and young, th« peo-
ple have the greatest of confidence in
each others integrity: they can entrust
their wives and daughters, without
any distrust, to the protection and
care of their neighbors. Under the
strict and rigid laws of virtue which
prevail and are carried into general
practice, wives are not in constant
fear of the inconstancy of their hus-
bands ; parents are not fearful of
their children being seduced and
their characters being destroyed ;
neither are they fearful that their
children will form contracts of mar-
riage without their consent ; for such
a thing is not allowed in the whole
territory. Such a state of things
actually existing, not in theory alone,
but in general practice, removes
every cause for jealousy, distrust, and
want of confidence, and lays a broad
and permanent foundation for peace
and union. If a man ill-treats any
one of his wives, he is looked upon
as having violated the law of God,
and it is difficult for him to recover
from the disgrace.
There are more quarrellings, and
jealousies, and disunions, and evil
speakings, in one week, among two
thousand families, taken at random
any where in the United States or
England, than would be seen through,
out all Utah Territory in five years.
And there is more unvirtuous conduct
practiced in one day in New York
city, or Albany, or Buffalo, or Cincin-
nati, or St. Louis, than would be prac-
ticed in Utah in a thousand genera
tions, unless they greatly degenerated
from their present standard of morals.
If the Gentile nations consider
Patriarchal Matrimony "a mote"
which has got into the Saints' eyes,
let them, before they undertake to
pluck it out, extricate the great
beams from their own eyes, and then
they will learn that what they sup-
posed to be ua mote" is in reality a
divine institution, which was prac-
ticed by the most holy men that ever
lived in ancient times under the sanc-
tion and approbation of the Almighty.
Tradition causes individuals and
nations to "strain at a gnat and sical~
low a camel.'''' They cry out, as though
they were frightened out of their
senses, because a territory practices
legal and lawful matrimony after the
pattern set before them in the Scrip-
tures ; but they can swallow down
comparatively easy, without scarcely
uttering a groan, the polluted wretch-
ed, most filthy sinks of iniquity, that
prevail to an alarming extent in all
the large towns, cities, and seaports
among the Gentile nations. One
such den of polution, in ancient times,
would have brought down the heaviest
judgments of the Almighty upon the
whole nation of Israel, until they
irradicated the evil, root and branch,
from their midst. Yes, even for one
case of adultery, almost the whole
tribe of Benjamin were destroyed,
and that, too, by the command of God.
(See 19, 20, and 21, chapters of
Judges.) But now tens of thousands
of public prostitutes may be found in
one city such as New York, and
ninety thousand in another like Lon-
don, and yet the United States and
England call themselves christian
nations, and pretend to worship God
with all these abominations under
their notice. Are the nations justi-
fied who suffer such great wickedr
ness in their midst? Verily no.
Can any one suppose that God has
changed so that he does not look upon
adulterous and unvirtuous practices
now with the same degree of abhor-
ence as he did anciently? If for one
sin of this description, twenty-five
thousand Benjaminites, together with
their wives and little children were
destroyed by the command of God,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
43
what must be the fierce wrath and
terrible judgments laid up against
modern Christendom who have suf-
fered these abominations to prevail
among them, not in a few isolated
cases existing for a moment, but in
hundreds of thousands of cases, where
public prostitutes swarming forth from
their deathly hellish dens, like so
many venomous serpents, have cor-
rupted nations and generations for
centuries and for ages !
Let this nation put these evils from
their midst; let them enact strict
laws to protect the virtue of the
country; let the heaviest penalties be
inflicted upon all public prostitutes,
and upon all those who encourage
the same, either by precept or exam-
ple ; let the priests and the people,
the rulers and the ruled, clothe them-
selves in sackcloth and weep before
the Lord for the sins of the nation,
which have reached unto the heavens
and cry aloud for vengeance ; let them
cleanse the land and wipe out of ex-
istence these soul-destroying abomi-
nations : then let them teach Utah
virtue, and their precepts will be
heard and their admonitions received;
then will the valiant-hearted sons and
daughters of the Mountain Territory
believe that there is virtue still left in
the land ; and then shall the nation
find favor in the sight of heaven, and
rise up in strength, in power, in glo-
rious majesty, and extend their do-
minions east, west, north, and south,
and shall rule in triumph and ever-
lasting honor unto the ends of the
earth. But until then let them hide
their faces in shame and blush in
deep silence at the floodgates of in-
iquity which pour forth their torrents
of corruption and death in all parts of
the land.
Why do the Saints marry for all
eternity as well as for time? Be-
cause both male and female expect
to have a resurrection from the dead,
and wish to enjoy each others soci-
ety in the capacity of husbands and
wives in the eternal worlds. Do the
saints believe that all those who have
been husbands and wives in this life
will enjoy that relationship after the
resurrection ? No ; they do not be-
lieve that any will enjoy that privi-
lege excepting those who have been
married by the word of the Lord, and
by his authority for eternity. When
a man and woman enter into matri-
monial contracts and covenant to be
each others companion until death,
they have claim upon each other for
this life only; when death comes,
their marriage contracts and cove-
nants expire ; and in the resurrection,
however much they may desire to
enjoy themselves in all the endearing
relationships of husband and wife,
they will find that their contracts and
covenants which were made for lime
only, give them no title to each other
in eternity. Therefore, they will not
be permitted under any conditions
whatever to live together as husband
and wife. But can they not renew
their contracts and be married again
in that life ? No ; for Jesus says,
"In the resurrection they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but
are as the angels of God in heaven."
(Matthew 22 : 30.) Those who have
not secured their marriage for eter-
nity in this life, can never have it at-
tended to hereafter ; therefore, if they
should through faithfulness even be
saved, yet they would be no higher
than the angels, and would be com-
pelled to live separately and singly,
and consequently without posterity,
and would become servants to all
eternity, for those who are counted
worthy to become kings and priests,
and who will receive thrones and
kingdoms, and an endless increase of
posterity, and inherit a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Such will need myriads of servants
as their kingdoms and dominions in-
crease ; and the numbers requisite
will be found among those who kept
not the higher law, but still rendered
themselves worthy of an inferior re-
ward.
The first marriage we have on
record, is that of our first parents.
After the Lord had formed Eve, He
" brought her unto the man. And
Adam said, This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh : she
44
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
shall be called woman, because she
was taken out of man. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave unto his wife,
and they shall be one flesh." (Gen.
2 : 22-24.) Here was a marriage in
which the Lord in person officiated —
a marriage between two immortal
beings. Both Adam and Eve were
so organized that death had no do-
minion over their bodies ; they were
capable of living forever and ever.
Death was not in the organization ;
it came into the world by transgres-
sion ; it was an enemy — a usurper —
an evil which man brought upon him-
self, or as Paul says, " By one man
sin entered into the world, and death
by sin." (Rom. 5 : 12.) If sin had
not entered our world, death never
would have been known in this crea-
tion ; consequently our first parents
would have been living this day as
fresh, and as fair, and as full of all
the vigor and strength of immortality,
as in the morn of creation ; millions
of ages would have produced no effect
upon their immortal systems ; they
would have been as durable as the
throne of Jehovah, and as lasting as
eternity itself. Remember, then, that
when the Lord gave Eve to Adam,
He gave an immortal woman to an
immortal man : He made them one
flesh, not for time, not for any definite
period of duration, not till death — for
that monster was not in the creation,
which was then newly formed and
pronounced " very good" — but He
joined them in one, as one flesh, to
be indissolubly united while eternal
ages should roll on, or God himself
endure.
But man, through disobedience,
opened the gates to the enemy ; death
enters armed with horrible ven-
geance, and with a ghastly smile seats
himself upon the throne of the new
world, and clad with frightful majesty
proclaims himself'' The King of Ter-
rors-" All things feel his withering
touch ; all nations and generations
are prostrated in the dust ; ruin and
desolation follow in his train ; the
whole creation groan beneath the
grasp of his tyrant hand, Under his
direful reign our first parents were
banished from the presence of their
Creator — were disinherited from the
garden of Eden — were subjected to
labor and toil to procure food from
the ground, cursed for man's sake.
The seeds of death were combined
with the very soil ; they organized
themselves in every vegetable ; they
were mixed in all species of food de-
rived from the ground ; all the ani-
mal creation, with man himself, par-
took thereof; and death thus took a
firm hold upon every living being ;
the immortal bodies of Adam and Eve
received the fatal curse — they yield-
ed— they sank — they died — their bo-
dies returned to dust.
But what was lost by the fall, was
restored through Jesus Christ. Did
the original sin bring a curse upon
the earth ? The atonement redeems
from that curse and restores this cre-
ation to its primeval beauty, goodness,
and glory. Did that sin tear asunder
body and spirit, destroy the immortal
workmanship of the Creator, prostrate
it low in the dust ? The redemption
which is in Christ will restore " bone
to bone," limb to limb, and joint to
joint ; while flesh, sinews, and skin,
will be restored to their original po-
sition ; the spirit be restored to its
body, and the body be restored to im-
mortality. Did death tear asunder
husband and wife, divorce that which
God had joined together as "one
flesh," immortal and eternal in its
nature ? The atonement of Christ
will repair the breach, will restore
the immortal Eve to the immortal
Adam, will join them again as one
flesh, never more to be separated,
and will again let the lawful husband
enjoy the society of his lawful wife.
This restoration of Eve to Adam
in the resurrection will require no
new ceremony of marriage ; for they
were never legally divorced ; the fall
was not a divorce, for they lived for
centuries in their mortal state as hus-
band and wife ; the death of the body
was not a divorce, but only a separa-
tion for a season ; consequently, they
were husband and wife in the spirit-
ual state between death and the re-
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
4&
surrection ; there is nothing con-
nected with the resurrection which is
calculated to divorce; on the contrary,
the resurrection, instead of being a di-
vorcing or separating power, is a re-
storing or uniting power : therefore,
Adam and Eve will not need to be
married after the resurrection, for
there never will be one moment, from
the time of their marriage in the
Garden of Eden to the endless ages
of eternity, that they will cease to be
legally husband and wife.
If the Lord had waited until after
the fall before he solemnized the
marriage of our first parents, and then
had joined them as husband and wife
only until death ; when the time run
out and death came, the marriage
contract would have been no longer
binding, and they would have ceased
from that moment to be lawfully hus-
band and wife ; and as there is no
marrying after the resurrection, they
would have remained to all eternity
in a single state.
If the Lord should fail to restore to
Adam his wife after the resurrec-
tion, then the redemption through
Christ would not be as broad as the
fall. That which was joined as "one
flesh" by the Lord Himself was put
asunder, but not divorced by the en-
emy death ; if Christ does not restore
that which the enemy has taken away,
then the redemption is incomplete ;
then death would have greater power
than He who holds the " keys of
death," which would be unscriptural
and absurd. Christ has power over
the devil, and the devil has power
over death. (See Heb. 2 : 14.) And
Christ will destroy the works of the
devil from the earth, and death and
hell will be banished to the lake of
fire and brimstone, and our first pa-
rents, being delivered from these en-
emies, will he as immortal as they
were on their bridal day.
The union of these two immortal
beings in the marriage covenant, was
for the purpose of lawfully multiply-
ing their species ; for the first great
command given to man was to "be
fruitful, and multiply and replenish
the earth-" And it pleased God that
man should obey this important com-
mand only through the marriage or-
dinance. All other associations of
the sexes, as we have already proved,
were under the severest penalties
forbidden. It must be recollected
that when this great command was
given, and when they were joined
as one flesh for the purpose of obey-
ing it, they were immortal both body
and spirit. They did not obey this
command while in their immortal
state ; they fell from immortality to
mortality, after which they began to
multiply their fallen species upon the
earth. If they had complied with
the command before the fall, it would
have been impossible for them to
have raised up children of mortal flesh
and bones, subject to death. Mortal
children could not spring from im-
mortal parents.
Is it possible for immortal beings
to multiply? If it is not, then why
did God give such a command to the
immortal male and female ? It may
be said that they fulfilled the design
embraced in the command after they
through transgression became mortal;
but did God command them to sin,
and fall, and become mortal, in order
to raise up mortal posterity that the
first command might be obeyed and
made honorable 1 Would He com-
mand them to disobey one law in or-
der to keep another ? If they could
not have multiplied while immortal,
it was absolutely necessary that they
should break one law to obey another.
But, on the other hand, if they could
have multiplied while immortal, then
their posterity would of necessity
have been immortal also ; otherwise,
death would have entered the world
without sin, which no one for a mo-
ment could believe. Who then can-
not easily see that the very existence
of mortal man on this earth depended
on the fall ? Who so dull of appre-
hension that he cannot perceive that
if our first parents had not fallen, we,
as mortal beings, could have had no
existence 1 Mortal children of flesh
and blood could not have been born.
After our first Parents had become
fallen, and consequently mortal, it
46
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
was impossible for them to obey the
command to multiply as immortal
beings and raise up immortal chil-
dren. It is true, they could offer a
substitute of a mortal posterity, sub.
ject to death, instead of an immortal
one ; but would the Lord accept such
a substitution, as sufficient to an-
swer the ends of the great command,
given to them as immortal beings ?
Would He consider the command
honored and fulfilled, by being pre-
sented with a fallen, deathly, corrupt,
mortal race, instead of an immortal,
heavenly race, blooming in all the
freshness of eternal life? If God
will not be satisfied with such a sub-
stitution, would it be any thing more
than reasonable that He should de-
vise a plan by which our first Parents
could be restored to immortality, and
to the earth, and again be placed in
a condition to multiply their species
as immortal beings? Can they ever
obey that law, so as to answer the
end and design for which it was
given, unless they shall, as immortal
beings, " Multiply and Replenish the
earth" with an immortal posterity?
God will not suffer the fall of man to
thwart the great and eternal purpose
he had in view in that command.
The redemption through Christ was
intended to restore both male and
female to immortality, that what they
lost by the fall might be regained.
If the fall deprived them of the
power of raising up an immortal
posterity, the redemption will restore
that privilege, or else it will be in
complete. Adam must, therefore,
have restored to him his beloved
wife — his immortal Eve ; and they
must be placed upon the New Earth,
redeemed from the effects of their
transgression, where they will " Mul-
tiply and replenish " the same with
immortal children, as they were com-
manded to do in the first place, but
failed, because of transgression.
Thus will God show to all his crea-
tions, that the enemy has not defeat-
ed His designs and purposes, but
that they will all be fulfilled and ac-
complished, and that the Devil who
sought to overthrow them, has, him-
self, been defeated and banished from
this creation into his own place.
If our first Parents were married
for eternal ages, for the purpose of
multiplying an immortal offspring,
we cannot for one moment suppose
that there will ever a period arrive
throughout all future duration, when
they will cease to obey this command.
Hence their own sons and their own
daughters, aside from their grand-
children, will be as numerous as the
dust of the earth, or in other words,
there will be no end to their increase.
At the average rate of one per year,
in a thousand million of years, they
would people an earth as large as
this with their own sons and daugh-
ters : and if we let our minds stretch
still further into the future ages of
eternity, we can say, with confidence,
that the period will arrive, when
their own children, without reckon-
ing their (childrens') descendants,
will be sufficiently numerous to peo-
ple as many worlds as have been
discovered by the aid of the most
powerful telescopes ; and we can
say of them, that " Of the increase
of their government," or of their
kingdoms, " there will be no end."
But was the command to multiply
limited to our first Parents ? No ; it
extended to their posterity also. If
the command required immortal Pa-
rents to multiply, it surely would re-
quire the same things of the children ;
but it may be said, that through the
transgression of the Parents the chil-
dren are born mortal, and therefore,
that they have not the privilege of rais-
ing up an immortal posterity. But it
must be recollected, that the same
sin which prevents the children, also
prevented the first parents from ful-
filling that command ; and the same
redemption which redeems the pa-
rents, also redeems the children, and
restores them all to immortality.
Therefore, if the children have been
married for eternity, as well as for
time, by the authority of God, the
same as their first Parents were, they
will, with them, raise up, after the
resurrection, an endless posterity of
immortal beings. In this manner,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
47
the children, as well as the parents,
are placed in a redeemed condition,
wherein they can eternally obey the
command to multiply.
But those who do not, in this life,
enter into the eternal covenant of
marriage, after the pattern set by the
first immortal pair, can never obey
the first great command. If any
shall say that they obey that in this
life, to them we reply, that a fallen,
corrupt, mortal posterity, will never
be accepted, as sufficient to answer
the ends of that great law which
was given to man in his immortal
state. Immortal beings only can obey
that law acceptably, according to the
real design and purpose which the
Lord had in view. They, therefore,
who enter not into the everlasting
covenant of marriage, can never obey
that law ; and because they have not
placed themselves in a condition to
obey it, they will find in the resurrec-
tion, that they have no lawful compan-
ions, and cannot enjoy the same ful-
ness of glory as their first Parents, and
as others who have been joined by
the Lord eternally as one flesh.
They, therefore, must be numbered
with the angels who do not keep the
law ; while those who do keep it,
will sit upon thrones of judgment
and will judge those angels and make
them their servants, and they shall
serve them throughout endless gene-
rations forever and ever, for angels
have no power to enlarge themselves
by an increase of posterity. But to
those who keep the law through the
eternal covenant of marriage, shall ho-
nor, and glory, and dominion, and eter-
nal lives, be added to endless ages in
worlds without end. By such shall
worlds be peopled with their own
sons and daughters ; and their eter-
nal kingdoms shall be multiplied as
the stars of Heaven which no man
can number. By such shall God be
glorified, in the continuation of His
works, in the extension of the Uni-
verse, in the redemption and glorifi-
cation of worlds, and in the increase
of intelligent, immortal, Godlike
beings who inherit all the fulness of
His own great perfections.
No uninspired man has authority
from God to join together the male
and female in the marriage covenant.
Marriage is an ordinance of God, and
we read that " What God hath joined
together let not man put asunder."
(Matthew 19: 6.) Where man
usurps authority to officiate in the
ordinance of God, and joins together
the sexes in marriage, such unions
are illegal in the sight of God, though
they may be legal according to the
laws and governments of men. The
power to officiate in the ordinances
of God has not been upon the earth
since the great apostacy, until the
present century. Something like
seventeen centuries have passed
away since the authority was lost on
the eastern hemisphere to administer
in any of the ordinances of God.
During that long period marriages
have been celebrated according to the
customs of human governments, by
uninspired men, holding no authority
from God; consequently, all their
marriages, like their baptisms, are
illegal before the Lord. Point out to
us a husband and wife that God has
joined together from the second cen-
tury of the christian era until the
nineteenth, if any can. Such a phe-
nomenon cannot be found among
Christians or Jews, Mahometans or
Pagans. All are without prophets
or inspired men — all are without di-
vine authority : none have had power
to seal on earth the marriage 'cov-
enant that it might be sealed in hea-
ven ; none during that long period
have heard the voice of the Lord
commanding them to officiate in those
sacred ordinances.
Marriages, then, among all nations,
though legal according to the laws of
men, have been illegal according to
the laws, authority, and institutions
of Heaven. All the children born
during that long period, though legit-
imate according to the customs and
laws of nations, are illegitimate ac-
cording to the order and authority of
Heaven. Those things which are
performed by the authority of men,
God will overthrow and destroy, and
they will be void and of no effect in
48
CATALOGUE OF WORKS, CONTENTS, &C.
the day of the resurrection. A!l
things ordained of God and performed
and sealed by His authority, will re-
main after the resurrection. That
which is of man, will be of no force
or authority after death ; that which
is of God, will endure forever. Re-
publics and kingdoms, thrones and
empires, principalities and powers,
and all things else of human origin,
shall be cast down and destroyed and
vanish away like " the dream of a
night vision ;" but all things sealed
on earth and in Heaven, shall abide
forever and have no end.
(To be continued.)
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Figure and Magnitude of Spirits 33
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Celestial Marriage 41
Catalogue of Works 48
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Vol. I.
APItIL, 1853.
No. 4.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
( Continued.)
36. There are two different kinds
of knowledge : one kind is obtained
from reason and reflection, of which
self-evident truths are the foundation ;
the oilier kind is gained by sensation
or experience. The ideas relating
to the first kind are obtained by com-
paring truth with truth ; hence they
aie acquired by spirits in this man-
ner, and can be communicated to
them independant of experience.
The ideas of the latter kind cannot
be obtained by reasoning or reflec-
tion ; lhe> can only be learned by ex-
perience. Spirits, therefore, can ad-
vance to the highest degree ot knowl-
edge in some things, while in others
they must remain in ignorance until
they are placed in circumstances to
learn them by experience. Now
there are many experimental truths
which are ju*t as necessary to be
learned as truths of a different nature,
and without the knowledge of which
an intelligent being could never be
perfected in happiness and glory;
hence it becomes necessary that these
spirits should enter bodies of flesh and
bones, that they by experience may
learn tilings which could not be
learned in the spiritual state. None
of these spirits are permitted to have
tabernacles of flesh if they have vio
!ated the laws of »heir first estate and
altogether turned therefrom ; for if
they will not abide in the laws of the
spiritual state and hold sacred the
knowledge the rein gained, their Father
will not entrust them with the know],
edge to be gained in the second es-
tate. If they keep not the first es-
tate, they will not be permitted to
enter upon (he second; and this is
their torment because they are held
back and are prohibited from advan-
cing in knowledge and glory with the
rest of the family who have been
faithful.
37. That there has been a rebel.
lion among these spirits, is evident
from the Scriptures. The Apostle
John says, "And there appeared
another wonder in Heaven ; and be-
hold a gieat red dragon, having seven
heads and ten horns, and seven
crowns upon his heads. And his
tail drew the third part of the stars
of Heaven, and did cast them to the
earth." "And there was war in
Heaven: Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon ; and the
dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was their
place found any more in Heaven.
And the great dragon was ca-t out,
that old Serpent, called the Devil,
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world : he was cast out into the earth,
50
THE PRE-EXfSTENCE OF MAN.
and his angels were cast out with
him." (Rev. 12; 3, 4, 7, 8, 9.)
The name of the being who headed
this rebellion, was called, " Dragon,"
"Serpent," «-Devil," or ''Satan;"
the place where the war commenced,
was Heaven : the persons, engaged
with the Devil were "his angel?,"
called "the stars of Heaven": the num-
ber of Satan's army was "the third
part of the stars of Heaven" or of
"the angels," the other two thirds
were headed by Michael : the Devil's
army were banished (rom Heaven to
the earth. Some, perhaps, may
imagine that these angels were
beings who had been redeemed from
some former world, and afterwards
rebelled ; but if this were the case,
they would not be evil spirits, but
would be evil beings, having flesh
and bones, and consequently would
be unable to enter into the taberna-
cles of human beings ; but as many
of them frequently have entered into
one person, it shows most clearly
that they are spirits. Others, per-
haps, may imagine that these fallen
angels are the spirits of evil men
who have died on some former world,
and whose bodies have never been
raised ; but this conjecture would not
harmonize with the plan, pursued in
regard to the wicked of this creation
who are all to be raised from the
dead and their spirits and bodies to
be reunited ; neither would it har-
monize with the testimony of the
Apostle Jude who says, " The angels
which kept not their first estate, but
left their own habitation, he hath re-
served in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the
great day." (Jude, verse 6.) Thi9
passage proves that fallen angels are
those who were on trial in their first
estate. Angels do not receive fleshly
bodies until they enter their second
estate, consequently those in the first
estate must be spirits. That these
angels were spirits, pertaining to this
creation, and not to a former one, is
shown from the fact, that they are
reserved " in chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day."
If they had lived in a first estate,
preceeding the one where our spirits-
were on trial, then they would have
been judged on a previous world .
but their judgment day has not yet
come, but will come al the end of the
earth, or at the time when the wicked
of this world are judged. If, then,
they are to receive a judgment in
connection with the inhabitants of
this earth, they must have formed a
portion of the same family in the
first estate, and did not have an origin
anterior to the family, designed for
this earth.
38. Having learned that there has
been war in Heaven, let us next in-
quire, at what period this war ended ?
It is very plain that the war must
have been raging in Heaven after
the earth was formed ; for when the
Devil and his angels were cast out
of Heaven, they were banished to
our earth, consequently the earth
was formed and in existence at the
close of the war in Heaven. The
Devil was on the earth at the time
Adam and Eve were in the garden :
it was he that lied to Eve and de-
ceived her ; hence, he is called " a liar
from the beginning " or " the father
of lies." Now whether he and his
angels had, at that early period, been
cast out of Heaven upon the earth,
is not, in the English version of the
Bible, clearly revealed. If they had
not at the period of the fall of Adam,
already received their banishment
from heaven, the Devil must, at least,
have come, by permission, to this
earth, and entered into the garden ;
and if his expulsion had not, at that
time, taken place, he would, after
having accomplished his evil designs
in bringing about the fall of man,
have returned again to his armies in
Heaven to encourage them in their
unholy and malicious warfare. But
from the testimony, in the revelations
which God gave through Joseph
Smith, the prophet, we are informed
that Adam was Michael. It is rea-
sonable, therefore, to suppose, that
Michael who headed the armies in
Heaven against the Devil's forces
would continue the command until the
close of the war or until the Devil's army
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
51
were banished to the earth* To have
left his post, and resigned his com-
mand before the enemy was over-
come, would have been only a partial
victory, and the trial in the first estate
would have been incomplete. Noth-
ing short of a full discomfiture of the
enemy's forces and their banishment
from Heaven, would have rendered
the victory complete ; nothing short
of this, would have entitled them to
the praise of having kept their first
estate. It is plain, therefore, that
the war in Heaven had ended, before
Michael left Heaven, and entered a
body of flesh and bones under the
name of Adam.
39. When did this war in Heaven
commence ? All the light we have
upon this question is contained in
modern revelations, and in those an-
cient revelations which have been re-
vealed anew through Joseph the Seer.
We quote the following from the book
of Abraham: "Now the Lord had
shown unto me, Abraham, the intel-
ligences that were organized bef< re
the world was; and among all these,
there were many of the noble and
great ones; and God saw these souls
that they were good, and he stood in
the midst of them, and he said, these
I will make my rulers ; for he stood
among those that were spirits, and he
saw that they were good; and he said
unto me, Abraham, thou art one of
them, thou wast chosen before thou
wast born. And there stood one
among them that was like unto God,
and he said unto those who were with
him, we will go down, for there is
space there, and we will take of these
materials, and we will make an earth
whereon these may dwell; and we
will prove them herewith, to see it
they Will do all things whatsoever the
Lord their God shall command them;
and they who keep their first estate,
shall be added upon ; and they who
keep not their first estate, shall not
have glory in the same kingdom with
those who keep their first estate ; and
they who keep their second estate,
shall have glory added upon their
heads forever and ever. And the
Lord said, who shall I send? And
one answered like unto the Son of
Man, here am I, send me. And
another answered and said, here am
I, send me. And the Lord said, I
will send the first. And the second
was angry, and kept not his first es-
tate, and, at that day, many followed
after him. And then the Lord said,
let us go down ; and they went down
at the beginning, and they organized
and formed (that is, the Gods) the
Heavens and the earth. And the
earth, after it was formed, was empty
and desolate, because they had not
formed anything but the earth ; and
daikness reigned upon the face of the
deep, and the spirit of the Gods was
brooding upon the faces of the water."
In this divine history, we are informed
that the rebellion commenced at the
time that the heavenly host were
counseling together, concerning the
formation of this earth and the peo-
pling of the same. The rebellion,
therefore, must have been raging from
the time of the holding of this grand
council, until the foundations of the
earth were laid, and probably too
for some time after ; but it must have
been some time during the period
between the beginning of this crea-
tion and the completion of the same,
preparatory to the reception of Mi-
chael or Adam, that Satan and his
army were overcome and banished to
the earth. How long the period was,
intervening between the time of hold-
ing the council and the beginning of
this creation, is not revealed ; it may
have been only a very short period,
or it may have been millions of years.
And again, how long it was from the
commencement of the creation, until
Satan was cast out, is not revealed ;
because we do not know the length
of time included in each day's work,
pertaining to the creation ; neither do
we know on which of ;hese days or
periods he was cast out.
40. The cause of Satan's rebel-
lion is more fully described in the in-
spired translation of the book of
Genesis, as revealed by Joseph the
Seer. We give the following quota-
tion : "And I, the Lord God, spake
unto Moses, saying, that Satan, whom
52
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
thou hast commanded in the name of
mine Only Begotten,* is the same
which was from the beginning; and
he came before me saying, behold me.
send me, 1 will be thy son, and I will
redeem all mankind, that one soul
shall not be lost, and surely I will do
it: wherefore give me thine honor.
But behold, my beloved Son, which
was my beloved and chosen from the
beginning, said unto me, Father, thy
will be done, and the glory be thine
forever. Wherefore, because that
Satan rebelled against me, and sought
to destroy the agency of man. which
I, the Lord God, had given him, and
also, that I should give unto him mine
own power, by the power of mine
Only Begotten I caused that he should
be cast down; and he became Satan,
yea, even the devil, the father of all
lies, to deceive and to blind men, and
to lead them captive at his will, even
as many as would not hearken unto
my voice. And now the serpent was
more subtle than any beast of the
field which I, the Lord God, had
made. And Satan put it into the
heart of the serpent, (for he had
drawn away many after him,) and he
sought also to beguile hve, for he
knew not the mind of God : where-
fore, he sought to destroy the world,
yea, and he said unto the woman,
yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden, (and he
spake by the mouth of the serpent,)
but of the fruit of the tree which thou
beholdest in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye taste it, lest ye die.
For God doth know that in the da\
ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as Gods,
knowing wood and evil." From the
quotation which we have given from
the Book of Abraham, it is shown
that the council, where this rebellion
first staited, was held before the earth
was made. And in this last quota-
tion from Genesis, we learn some of
• For the contest which Moses had with
the devil, see a revelation which was given
to Moses, previous to his writing the book of
Genesis, published in "The Pearl of Great
Price."
the causes .which excited the revotL
It seems that Satan had proposed a
plan \o "redeem all mankind, that one
soul should not be lost;" and believ-
ing that his plan was superior to any
other suggested in the council, he was
determined to carry it into effect at
all hazards ; hence, he said to the
Lord, "surely I will do it; wherefore
give me thine honor."
41. If Satan had been permitted
to carry out his plan, it would either
have destroyed the agency of man, so
that he could not commit sin ; or it
would have redeemed him in his sins
and wickedness without any repent-
ance or reformation of life. If the
agency of man were destroyed, he
would only act as he is acted upon,
and consequently he would merely be
a machine ; and bis actions would
have neither merit or demerit, so tar
as he was concerned, and could
neither be punished nor rewarded,
and would produce neither misery
nor joy. Destroy the agency of man,
and you oestroy the mainspring of
his happiness. Again, take away the
agency of man, and you deprive him
of hi» intelligence ; for intelligence is
the original force or cause of actions ;
it is a self-moving force ; and all ac-
tions, resulting from such a force,
must necessarily be free. If, there-
fore, the agency of man or his free-
dom of action be destroyed, you des-
troy his sell-moving force ; and if you
deprive him of such force, you deprive
him of intelligence ; therefore, agency
is essential to the very existence of
intelligence. This truth is clearly
revealed in a revelation given to
Joskph the Seer, which reads as fol-
lows : ''All truth is independent in
that sphere in which God has placed
it, to act for itself, as all intelligence
also, otherwise there is no existence.
I'ehold, here is the agency of man."
(Doc. and Cov., sec. 83, par. 5.)
The plan proposed by the devil, while
ne was yet in his first estate or in
Heaven, was to destroy the agency of
man, thereby depriving him of the
intelligence which God had given to
him, and by this process man would
be unable to do, of his own accord,
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
53
either good or evil ; and Satan thought
that he could thus "redeem all man
kind, that not one soul should lie lost."
He did not perceive that man, re-
deemed after his plan, would he a
perfect idiot, without the least glim
mering of intelligence.
Some, perhaps, may think we have
misrepresented the intentions of
the devil; for they can scarcely be-
lieve, him to be so profoundly ignorant
as to propose a plan which would, in
its very nature, destroy the intelli-
gence or knowledge of the human
race. Such, perhaps, may argue that
it is more reasonable to suppose tha:
the devil intended to leave them to
their agency, so far as doing good or
evil is concerned ; and that thus their
intelligence would be retained ; but
that he designed to redeem them
from the effects of their sins with nit
any exercise of their agency in the
act of repentance or reformation.
Such a plan, we admit, would thwart
the ends of justice, and would admit
unholy and sinful beings into the
kingdom of God; .such beings would
be redeemed in all their sins and
would still be determined to pursue a
sinful course. And such characters
would turn a Heaven into a hell, ami
m:ike themselves miserable, and also
all others with wh >m they were as
sociated. But such a plan, though i>
destroys justice, does not destroy the
agency of man. It is true, that it
redeems him without the exercise ot
his agency, dut does not deprive him
of it. But the revelation says, that
Satan desired to bring about the re-
demption of all mankind by the de
struction of his agency; it reads thus :
"Satan rebelled against me, and
sought to destroy the agency of man
which I, the Lord God, bad given
him, and also, that I should give unto
him mine own power." However
wise Satan may have been, in some
respects, this plan certainly was a
very foolish one. Satan's sin does
not appear to have consisted wholly
in the foolishness of the plan which
he proposed before the grand council
of r|pav°n, but in his stubbornness
ov unwillingness to yield to the su-
perior light of the council ; having
devised the plan, he was determined
to carry it into effect : therefore he
sought to overthrow the kingdom and
to usurp the power thereof in his own
hands; hence, he demanded of the
Lord, raying, "Give me thine honor"
or as the Lord expresses himself in
the above quotation, "Satan rebelled
against me, and sought that I should
give unto him mine own power."
42. However foolish Satan's plan
may appear to us, it must have ap-
peared plausible to many of his breth-
ren : they looked upon a theory which
they supposed would redeem them all
to be superior to all others. They
either had not sufficient intelligence
to judge of the consequences of a
scheme, destroying the agency of
man ; or else they preferred to run
the risk of the results, rather than
come under a plan, founded upon the
principles of justice and mercy, which
would punish and reward them ac-
cording to their works. It may be,
that they were capable of discerning
and judging righteously, every scheme
that was proposed, but. were careless
and indifferent upon these subjects,
deciding with Satan, before they had
mule sufficient investigation, and
having taken sides, they were de-
termined to maintain their position.
43. It is not likely that the final
decision of the contending armies
took place immediately. Many, no
doubt, were unsettled in their views,
unstable in their minds, and undecid-
ed as to which force to join : there
may have been, for aught we know,
many deserters from both armies :
and there may have been a long pe-
riod before the division line was so
strictly diawn as to become unalter-
able. Laws, without doubt, were
enacted, and penalties affixed, ac-
cording to the nature of the offences
or crimes : those who altogether
turned from the Lord, and were de-
termined to maintain the cause of
Satan, and who proceeded to the
utmost extremities of wickedness,
placed themselves without the reach
of redemption : therefore, such were
prohibited from entering into a second
54
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
probationary state, and had no privi-
lege of receiving bodies of flesh and
bones. A second estate, to them
would have been of no advantage,
because they had sinned to that ex-
tent that the Spirit of the Lord had
entirely left them, and light and truth
no longer dwelt in them, therefore,
they could not feel a disposition to
repent; and if they had been permit-
ted to enter another slate of trial,
they would have continued their un-
holy warfare. And, also, if they
had been permitted to receive fleshly
bodies, they would have propogated
their species, and instilled into the
minds of their children the same
devilish principles which reigned in
their own bosoms. Therefore, the
Lord thrust them out of Heaven and
"reserved them in chains of everlast-
ing darkness until the judgment of
the great day" which will come at
the end of the earth. The number
cast out were about one-third part, as
revealed, not only to John on the isle
of Patrnos, but to Joseph the Seer,
as follows : — "And it came to pass,
that Adam being tempted of the De-
vil ; for, behold, the Devil was before
Adam, for he rebelled against me,
saying, Give me thine honor which
is my power; and also a third part
of the hosts of Heaven turned he
away jrom me, because of their
agency ; and they were thrust down,
and thus came the Devil and his an-
gels. And, behold, there is a place
prepared for them from the begin-
ning, which place is hell." (Doc.
and Cov., sec. 10, par. 10 )
44. Among the two-thirds who re-
mained, it is highly probable, that,
there were many who were not val-
ient in the war, but whose sins were
of such a nature that they could be
forgiven through faith in the future
sufferings of the Only Begotten of
the Father, and through their sincere
repentance and reformation. We see
no impropriety in Jesus offering Him-
sell as an acceptable offering and sa-
crifice before the Father to atone for
the sins of His brethren, committed,
not only in the second, but also in
the first estate. Certain it was, that
the work which Jesus was to accom-
plish, was known in the Grand Coun-
cil where the rebellion broke out ; it
was known that man would sin in
his second estate ; for it was upon
the subject of his redemption that the
assembly became divided, and which
resulted in war. John, the revela-
tor, speaking of a certain power,
says, "And all that dwell upon the
earth shall worship him, whose
names are not written in the book
of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:
8.) Now we may ask, Why was
the Lamb, considered as "slain from
the foundation of the world ? " If
there were no persons who had
sinned in their first estate, that could
be benefitted by the sufferings of
their elder brother, then we can see
no reason for considering Him at
that early period, as already slain :
the very fact, that the atonement
which was to be made in a future
world, was considered as already
having been made, seems to show
that there were those who had sin-
ned, and who stood in need of the
the atonement. The nature of the
sufferings of Christ was such that it
could redeem the spirits of men as
well as their bodies. The word of
the Lord, through Joseph, the pro-
phet, to Martin Harris, reads thus: —
" I command you to repent — repent,
lest I smite you by the rod of my
mouth, and by my wrath, and by my
anger, and your sufferings be sore — -
how sore you know not! how exqui-
site you know not ! yea, how hard
to bear you know not ! For behold,
I, God, have suffered these things for
all, that they might not suffer if they
would repent ; but if they would not
repent, they must suffer even as I,
which suffering caused myself, even
God, the greatest of all to tremble
because of pain, and to bleed at every
pore, and to suffer both body and
spirit; and would that I might not
drink the bitter cup and shrink —
nevertheless, glory be to the Father,
and I partook and finished my prepa-
rations unto the children of men."
(Doc. and Cov. sec. 44 : 2.) Jesus
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
55
suffered, not only in body, but also
in spirit. By the sufferings of His
body He atoned for the sins of men
committed in and by the body : by
the sufferings of His spirit, He atoned
for the sins committed by the spirit;
hence, the atonement redeems both
body and spirit. It is reasonable,
therefore, to suppose that if spirits in
the first estate sinned, they might be
forgiven through their faith and re-
pentance, by virtue of the future suf-
ferings of Christ.
45. That the spirits of men did re-
ceive promises and gifts before the
world began, is clearly manifest in
many parts of Scripture. The Apos-
tle Paul writes as follows : — In hope
of eternal life, which God, that can-
not lie, promised before the world be-
gan." (Titus 1 : 2.) God "pro-
mised" "eternal life." When was
this promise made? It was made
" before the world began" To whom
was it made ? It was made to the
spirits of men who existed before the
world began. We were comforted
with the promises «f God when we
dwelt in His presence. We could
then look upon the face of the First
Born and consider Him as already
slain, or as Peter says, that He
" verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world." (1 Pet. 1 :
20.) VV'hen we were in our spiritual
state, all the grace or mercy we re-
ceived, was because of Christ. Paul.
in speaking of God, says, " Who hath
saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world be-
gan." (2 Tim. 1 : 9.) According
to this passage, and the preceding
ones, Paul, Timothy, Titus, and others
existed before the world began, and
in that anterior existence, God made
promises unto them of eternal life,
and also gave them grace "in Christ
Jesus." The apostle Paul also says :
"Blessed be the God and Father of
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ : ac-
cording as He hath chosen us in
Him before the foundation of the
world." (Eph. 1 : 3, 4.) Now if
the Apostles and others were called
" with an holy calling,'' and " chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the
world," and actually received grace
in Christ, and had the promise of
" Eternal Life" made to them " be-
fore the world began," then why
should it be thought incredible, that
in and through Christ they also re-
ceived forgiveness of the sins which
they may have committed in that pre-
existant state ?
46. If all the two-thirds who kept
their first estate were equally valient
in the war, and equally faithful, why
should some of them be called and
chosen in their spiritual state to hold
responsible stations and offices in
this world, while others were not?
If there were none of those spirits
who sinned, why were the Apostles,
when they existed in their previous
state, chosen to be blessed " with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ?" All these passages seem
to convey an idea, that there were
callings, choosings, ordinances, pro-
mises, predestinations, elections, and
appointments, made before the world
began. The same idea is also con-
veyed in the quotation which we have
already made from the Book of Abra-
ham. " Now the Lord had shewn
unto me, Abraham, the intelligences
that were organized before the world
was ; and among all these there were
many of the noble and great ones ;
and God saw these souls that they
were good, and he stood in the midst
of them, and he said, these I will
make my rulers ; for he stood among
those that were spirits, and he saw
that they were good ; and he said
unto me, Abraham, thou art one of
them, thou wast chosen before thou
wast born." Now is there not rea-
son to believe, that the nobility or
greatness which many of these spirits
possessed, was obtained by faithful,
ness to the cause of God 1 Was it
not because of their righteousness
that they were appointed to be the
Lord's Rulers? How did Abraham
become one of the noble and great
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
spirits.' How came the Lord to
choose Abraham before he was born ?
If we had an answer to these ques-
tions, we should very probably find
that Abraham stood up valiently for
the Son of God at the time the re-
bellion broke out : and that because
of his integrity and righteousness,
the Lord chose him before he was
born to hold authority and power in
his second estate, to become the
father of the faithful, and to be a
blessing to all nations.
47. All the spirits when they come
here are innocent, that is, if they
have ever committed sins, they have
repented and obtained forgiveness
through faith in the future sacrifice
of the Lamb. So far as innocency
is concerned, they enter this world
alike ; but so far as circumstances
are concerned they are not alike.
One class of spirits are permitted to
come into the world in an age when
the priesthood and kingdom of God
are on the earth, and they hear and
receive the gospel ; others enter the
world in an age of daikness, and are
educated in foolish and erroneous doc-
trines. Some are born among the
people of God and are brought up in
the right way; others are born among
the heathen, and taught to worship
idols. Some spirits take bodies in the
lineage of the chosen seed, through
whom the priesthood is transferred,
others receive bodies among the
African negroes or in the lineage or
Canaan whose descendants were
cursed, pertaining to the priesthood.
Now if all the spirits were equally
faithful in their first estate in keeping
the laws thereof, why are they placed
in such dissimilar circumstances in
their second estate? Why are some
placed in circumstances where they
are taught of God, become rulers,
kings, and priests, and finally are ex-
alted to all the fulness of Celestial
glory; while others are taught in all
kinds of wickedness, and never hear
the gospel, till they hear it in prison
after death, and in the resurrection
receive not a Celestial glory, but a
Terrestrial ? If rewards and punish-
ments are the results of good and
evil actions, then it would seem that
the good and evil circumstances un-
der which the spirits enter this world;,
must depend upon the good and evil
actions which they had done in the
previous world. Our condition when
we enter the next world will depend
upon our conduct here, By analogy,
then, does, not our condition when we
enter this world, depend upon our
conduct before we were born ? Does
not the question which the Apostles
put to the Saviour, respecting the
man who was born blind, show that
they considered it possible for a man
to sin before he was horn ? They
considered it reasonable that a person
should be born blind as a penalty for
the sins which he had committed be-
fore he was born. Though the spirits
are all innocent when they come here
may it not be possible that they are
forgiven and made innocent on con-
dition that they shall enter this world
under circumstances either favorable
or unfavorable, according to the na-
ture of their sins ? Do not the in-
habitants of our world, who are raised
from the dead, differ in glory as one
star differs from another? Is it not
necessary that they should be fin*,
given of all their sins and made in-
nocent before they can receive the
Holy Ghost or any degree of glory?
And do not the differences of their
condition in the resurrection depend
upon the nature of their actions in
this life ? If then they must be for-
given and become innocent before
they can even enter a kingdom of
glory, and if, when they do enter
theie, it is under a great variety of
circumstancies, depending on their
actions here, then we may from
analogy reason that the spirits must be
forgiven and become innocent before
they can even come here, and that
when they do come, it will be under a
agreat varieiy of conditions, depending
on their actions in a previous state.
48. Though there may be many
callings, and appointments in a pre-
vious state, relating to a future slate,
yet we do not imagine that the Lord
has made any decrees consigning
any individual, who is favored with
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
57
coming into (his state, unto eternal
damnation or salvation without con-
ditions. Such a view would he en-
tirely in opposition to the general
tenor of the scriptures. Salvation is
free for all who will comply with the
conditions thereof: but there are cer-
tain callings, ordinances, appoint-
ments, and authority, pertaining to
this life, which were conferred upon
spirits before they came here, and
which, doubtless, were promised to
them because of their good works in
the spirit world.
49. The division line being per-
manently drawn between Michael's
and the Devil's forces, the latter were
overpowered and cast down, and the
whole heavens wept over their fall.
A description of this is given in a
vision shown to Joseph the Seer and
Sidney Rigdon : we give the follow.
ing extract : " And this we saw also
and bear record, that an angel of God
who was in authoiityin the presence
of God, who rebelled against the only
begotten Son, whom the Father loved,
and who was in the bosom of the
Father, was thrust down from the
presence of God and the Son, and
was called Perdition, for the heavens
wept over him — he was Lucifer, a
son of the morning. And we beheld,
and lo, he is fallen ! is fallen ! even
a son of the morning." (Doc. & Cow,
sec. 92 : par. 3.) Peace being re-
stored in Heaven, and all who re-
mained, having kept their first estate
and overcome Satan, the next great
work to be accomplished was to
place these spirits upon the new
earth in tabernacles of flesh and
bones, where they all could pass
through another series of trial*, and
meet their common enemy upon new
grounds ; and if they should succeed
in this second warfare and overcome
and vanquish the hosts of hell, they
were to be counted worthy to inherit
all things, and to become equal with
their Father in glory, and in power,
and in might, and in dominion.
50. The first tabernacle of flesh
and bones was formed out of the dust
of the ground. The Lord gives the
following description of its formation :
" And I, the Lord God, formed man
from the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life ; and Man became a living
soul, the first flesh upon the earth,
the first Man also: nevertheless, all
things were before created; but, spirit,
utlly, were they created and made
according to my word." — (Joseph
Smith's inspired translation.) This
is more fully described in the book
of Abraham. " And the Gods formed
Man from the dust of the ground, and
took his spirit, (that is, the man's
spirit,) and put it into him, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and Man became a living soul.
And the Gods planted a garden east-
ward in Eden and there they put the
Man, whose spirit they had put into
the body which they had formed."
The first spirit who dwelt in a taber-
nacle here on the earth, was Michael
the archangel, who headed the ar-
mies of heaven against the rebellious
hosts : for this information, we are
dependant on a revelation given to
Joseph the Seer, as follows : " Three
years previous to the death of Adam,
he called Set h, Enos, Cainan, Maha-
laleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah,
who were all high priests, with the
residue of his posterity who were
righteous, into the valley of AHam-
ondi-ahman, and there bestowed upon
them his last blessing. And the Lord
appeared unto them, and they rose up
and blessed Adam, and called him
Michael, the Prince, the Archangel.
And the Lord administered comfort
unto Adam, and said unto him, I have
set thee to be at the head — a multi-
tude of nations shall come of thee,
and thou art a Prince over them for-
ever." (Doc. & Cov., sec. 3 : par.
"28.) It is reasonable, that the chief
Prince or Archangel, after having
put to flight his enemies, and ban-
ished them from Heaven to the earth,
should be the first to enter this earth,
being shielded and protected by a
body, to engage in a second warfare
with his old enemy under new cir-
cumstances, that in due time, he and
his brethren who were to come after
him, might expel Satan and his hosts
from the earth also.
(To be continued.)
58
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
(Continued.)
Having proved the eternity of the
marriage Covenant, and illustrated
the design of this divine ordinance, it
may not be improper to carefully ex-
amine some of the results which ne-
cessarily flow from this sacred insti-
tulion. All who admit the eternal
union of husband and wife, are obliged
to admit as a necessary consequence
a plurality of wives ; for there are
circumstances wherein this could not
be easily avoided : for instance, Mr.
A marries Miss B for time and for
all eternity: in process of time, his
wife B dies, leaving several children.
The widower Mr. A again marries
Miss C. Question. How will his
wife C obtain a husband for all eter-
nity? It is evident that she must re-
main single without a husband in a
future state, or else be married to
Mr. A for eternity as well as time.
If she choose the latter, then Mr. A
would have two wives in the morn-
ing of the resurrection. Again, Mr.
A may be unfortunate by having his
wife C taken from him by death ; if
he marry the third time, he would
then have three in eternity; and so
on. Also again, Mr A may die be-
fore his wife B ; his widow marries
a young man C for this life only, as
she is already bound to her deceas-
ed husband for eternity. Question,
When Mr. A claims his wife in the
resurrection, What will Mr. C do for
a wife ? Answer, he must either do
without one, or else be married to a
second one in this life ; in the latter
case, he would have two living in
this life at the same time. There-
fore, if marriage for eternity be a di-
vine institution, as we have abund-
antly proved it to be, then the plu-
rality of wives is a divine institution
also ; for the latter necessarily grows
out of the circumstances arising in
relation to the former.
Another instance maybe mention-
ed ; it is often the case that there are
many females who never had the offer
of marriage from young men in whom
they could place confidence to entrust
themselves for all eternity. Ques-
tion, Must these females remain
without husbands in the eternal
worlds ? Would it not be far better
for each of them to be connected in
marriage with a faithful man, like
Abraham, though he may already be
a married man, than to remain in a
single state to all eternity ? Would
it not be far greater happiness for
her to be the second, or third, or
fourth wife, and thus be placed in a
condition to raise up an endless pos-
terity, and enjoy with her husband
all the glory and honor of his increas-
ing kingdoms, than to remain as an
angel or servant, without posterity,
for ever and ever ?
And again, there are many widows
whose hu?bands die without embrac-
ing the gospel ; these widows may
never have the offer of marriage by
single men. Shall they be left un-
provided for in the eternal covenant
of marriage ? Would it not be a
blessing for them to be placed at the
head of a numerous offspring, by
whom they would eternally be re-
spected and reverenced in connec-
tion with their husbands ? What
faithful virtuous woman would not
prefer to stand as the sixth or seventh
wife of a good and faithful man,
rather than to have no husband at
all throughout the endless ages of
eternity ?
When nation rises against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom, and
the sword devours from one end of
the earth to the other, as the pro-
phets have predicted should be the
case in the last days, many millions
of fathers and brothers will fall upon
the battle field, while mothers, and
daughters, and widows will be left to
mourn the loss. Wnftt will become
of these females? Answer, the gos-
pel will be preached to many of
them, and they will flee out from
among the nations, and be gathered
with the Saints to Zion. Under
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
59
these circumstances, the number of
females will far exceed the number
of males. How are the overplus fe-
males to obtain husbands for eterni-
ty? We will answer this question
in the words of Isaiah, "In that day
seven women shall take hold of one
man, saying, We will eat our own
bread, and wear our own apparel :
only let us be called by thy name to
take away our reproach." (Isaiah
4: 1.) Thus we see that the re-
proach of having no husband will be
far greater than the reproach of
seven women having one husband ;
indeed the latter will be no reproach
at all ; it will be the only means of
taking away their reproach ; being a
divine institution, it will be sought
afier with eagerness, even at the ex-
pense of eating their own bread and
wearing their own apparel.
The Apostle Paul says, "Neither
is the man without the woman, nei-
ther the woman without the man in
the Lord." (1 Cor. 11: 11. If, in-
deed, it be a true doctrine that in the
Lord the man is not without the wo-
man nor the woman without the
man, then it is of the utmost import-
ance that each should secure a com-
panion in the Lord, that is, be joined
together by the authority of God as
one flesh, not only for this life, but
for that which is to come. No man
can be " in the Lord," in the full
sense of this passage, that is, he can-
not enter into all the fulness of his
glory " without the woman." And
no woman can be "in the Lord" or
in the enjoyment of a fulness " with-
out the man." This divine institu-
tion being properly taught and under-
stood, it will be considered a reproach
tor any man or woman to remain in
a single state, and not comply with
the ordinance of God by which they
can legally in their immortal state
"multiply and replenish" the New
Earth with an immortal offspring.
In order that this reproach may be
taken away " seven woman shall
take hold of one man." They will
understand that without a husband,
thny never can fulfil that great com-
mand which was given to immortal
beings ; they will learn that if they
do not place themselves in a condi-
tion to obey it, they must suffer the
penalties thereof, and arise no higher
than the angels whom Paul informs
us the Saints will judge. The ca-
lamities of war will be so great in
that day that the females will be
far more numerous than the males;
hence, the Lord says, "I will make
a man more precious than fine gold ;
even a man than the golden wedge
of Ophir." (Isaiah 13: 12.) In
that day the long established custom
of the male's first making the propo-
sition of marriage to the female, will,
in some measure, be reversed. In-
stead of a man's seeking to obtain
the consent of seven women to be-
come his wives, they will importune
him to grant them that privilege;
and for fear that he will object on
account of the expense of so large a
family, they will promise to "eat
their own bread and wear their own
apparel," if they can " only be called
by his name to take away their re-
proach." And to show that the Lord
sanctions that order of things and
bestows great blessings upon the
people where it shall be practised,
Isaiah, in the following verses, says,
•' In that day shall the branch of the
Lord be beautiful and glorious, and
the fruit of the earth shall be excel-
lent and comely for them that are es-
caped of Israel. And it shall come
to pass, that he that is left in Zion,
and he that remaineth in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy." (Isa. 4: 2,
3.) And in the fifth verse, he in-
forms us that "The Lord will create
upon every dwelling place of Mount
Zion, and upon her assemblies, a
cloud and smoke by day, and the
shining of a flaming fire by night."
"The branch of the Lord," which is
to be so " beautiful and glorious,"
having upon all its dwelling places
and assemblies a cloud by day and a
fire by night," are the very people
where seven women are to be united
to one man, and to be called by his
name to take away their reproach.
It will not only be a reproach for
a woman to be without a husband
60
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
among the people of God, but it will
also be an affliction for a married
woman to be barren ; for the Lord
has commanded the male and female
to multiply ; it will be a causae of sor-
row not to fulfil this command : this
was the case in ancient limes. When
Leah, one of Jacob's wives, had borne
to him four sons, "she left bearing."
"And when Leah saw that she had
left bearing, she took Zilpah, her
maid, and gave her Jacob to wife."
And after this, she called upon the
Lord, "and God hearkened unto Leah,
and she conceived and bare Jacob
the fifih son. And Leah said, God
hath given me my hire, because 1 have
given my maiden to my husband."
(Genesis 30: 9, 17, 18.) Here it
will be seen, that God hearkened to
Leah and gave her a fifth son, and
the reason assigned for this blessing
was, " Because she had given her
maiden to her husband." This was
an act which pleased the Lord, and.
therefore, he hearkened to her njayer.
But why was the Lord pleased with
this order of things 1 Because he is
no respecter of persons; and Zilpah,
no doubt, was just as worthy of a
husband and posterity, as Leah. And,
although Rachel had given Bilhah to
Jacob for a wife, yet it seems for
some reason, that Leah delayed fol-
lowing the example of her younger
sister, and. therefore, she was barren,
but when she became willing to give
Zilpah to Jacob, the Lord blessed her
for the act, and heard her prayers
and gave her another son. Both Bil-
hah and Zilpah would propably have
failed in getting husbands for eternity,
if Rachel and Leah had not given
them to Jacob. There may be many
similar circumstances in the last days
wherein females would fail of enter-
ing into the eternal covenant of mar-
riage were they not given to a man
already having a family.
Can a woman have more than one
husband at the same time? No:
Such a principle was never sanction-
ed by scripture. The object of mar-
riage is to multiply the species, ac-
cording to the command of God. A
woman with one husband can fulfil
this command, with greater facilities,
than if she had a plurality; indeed,
this would, in all probability, frustrate
the, great design of marriage, and
prevent her from raising up a family.
As a plurality of husbands, would not
facilitate the increase of posterity,
such a principle never was tolerated
in scripture. But a plurality of wives
would be the means of greatly increas-
ing a family, and of thus fulfilling the
command, not only to a far greater
extent on the part of the husband, but
also on the part of the females who
otherwise might have been under the
necessity of remaining single forever.
As instances of the great increase,
arising from a plurality of wives, we
will mention several of the Judges of
Israel ; one of whom had thirty sons ;
another had thirty sons and thirty
daughters ; another had forty sons ;
(the number of daughters is not men-
tioned ;) onother mighty man of God,
namely Gideon, had seventy. two sons;
(the number of daughters is not
known.) (See Judges 8 : 30, 31 ; also
9:5; and 10: 3, 4; and 12: 8,9,14.)
Among all the people of Israel, the
Lord chose Gideon, a man having
many wives and children, to redeem
His people from bondage. To this
Polygamist he sent his angel, and
showed him great signs and wonders,
and gave him many revelations how
to deliver Israel.
The Psalmist says, " Lo, children
are an heritage of the Lord : and the
fruit of the womb is his reward. Hap-
py is the man that hath his quiver
full of them ; they shall not be asham-
ed, but they shall speak with the ene-
mies in the gate." (Ps. 127: 3, 5.)
The reward which God bestows upon
his people is children. The Lord's
heritage is children: hence the great
anxiety of holy men and holy women
in ancient times to increase their
children. And hence the Psalmist
predicted, concerning the redeemed
of the Lord that should be gather-
ed " out of the lands, from the east,
and from the west, from the north,
and from the south," that after they
should wander in the. wilderness, in a
solitary way" where they should be
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
61
permitted to "prepare a city for hab-
itation," the Lord would greatly bless
the poor man "and make him families
like a Hock." fSee Psalm 107 : 2—7,
35 — 43.) Instead of the righteous.
in that day, being sorrowful to behold
a poor man having "families like a
flock," the Psalmist exclaims, " The
righteous shall see it, and rejoice :
and ill iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Whoso is wise and will observe ihese
things, even they shall understand the
loving kindness of the Lord." Those
who are not righteous, and are not
wise, and will not observe what the
Psalrnht says, will no doubt think
that a strange thing is happened in
the land, when they hear of a poor
mun's having "families like a flock."
The wicked will, no doubt, open their
mouths and cry Polygamy! Polygamy!!
with a view to frustrate the fulfilment
of the prophecies ; hut they will find
before ihey get through, that they are
fighting agitinsl God, and against His
purposes, and against His divine in-
stitutions, and against the fulfilment
of the prophets. They will soon find
that •• iniquity will stop her mouth,"
and that the Lord is, indeed, in the
midst of His people, and that "he
will rebuke strong nations afar off,"
and send forth His laws from Zion to
govern all people. Then shall they
know that when the Lord gives a
man "families like a flock," He in-
tends it as a Messing and not as a
curse ; fir " Lo, children are an herit-
age ol the Lord," and happy are they
who, through the everlasting coven-
ant of marriage, obtain this great re-
wan I.
At a certain lime Peter said to Je-
sus, " Lo, we have left all, and have
followed thee. And Jesus answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, There
is no m in that iiath left house, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or
lauds, tin- my sake, and the gospel's,
but he shall receive an hundred
fold, no v in this time, houses, and
brethren, and sisters, and mothers,
and children, and lands, with perse-
cutions ; and in the world to come
eternal life." (Mark 10: 28, 29,
30.) To receive " now in this time"
an hundred fold of houses and lands —
an hundred fold of wives — an hundred
fold of children, &c, is certainly a
great temporal reward. A man ihat
leaves one wife tor the gospel's sake,
receives a hundred wives in return
for his sacrifice : a man that leaves
three or four children for the kingdom
of God's sake, receives three or lour
hundred children as a reward " now
m this time." But how does he get
his hundred fathers and mothers ?
These would naturally come along as
he obtained his hundred told of wives;
lor the parents of each of the hundred
wives, he would lawfully claim as
father and mother. And the brothers
and sister of each of his wives he would
naturally claim as his brothers and
sisters, " An hundred fold of houses
and lands" would be as necessary as
any other part of these promises of
our Saviour ; for they certainly would
be needed to comfortably support an
hundred fold of wives and children.
Well did the Psalmist say ihat "Child-
ren are an heritage of the Lord: and
the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Well did he say that the Lord should
make for the poor man, " families
like a flock;" an hundred fold of fam-
ilies, dwelling in a hundred houses,
certainly would have very much the
appearance of" a flock "
A plurality of wives was not only
sanctioned of the Lord among Israel,
but in certain cases it seems to have
been absolutely necessary. The
scripture says: "If brethren dwell
together, and one of them die, and
have no child, the wife of the dead
shall not marry without unto a stran-
ger : her husband's brother shall go
in unto her and take her to him to
wife, and perform the duty of a
husband's brother unto her. And
it shall be, that the first born wh.'cb
she beareth shall succeed in the
name of his brother which is dead,
that his name be not put out of Is.
rael." (Deut. 25: 5, 6) If the
brother of the deceased was already
married, it did not relieve him from
the responsibility of the law; he was
required to marry the widow of his
62
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
brother in order to raise up seed to
him "that his name he not put out of
Israel." Here, then, is a case where
a man would be obliged to come out
in open rebellion against the law, or
else have a plurality of wives living
at the same time. Now take the case
of seven brethren; let them all marry.
If six of the brothers died without
children, the seventh would l>e obliged
by this law to marry the six widows ;
hence, he would have seven wives
living here in this life, or otherwise
be a transgressor of the law. If the
surviving brother have no previous
wife at the time he marries his bro-
ther's widow, (as the first-born must
not be considered as his seed, but
must take the name of his deceased
brother,) and if the brother's widow
fail to have children, or, at least, have
but one, what will the living brother
do for children to bear up his own
name in Israel? Shall he, who mar-
ried his brother's widow for the sake
of building up the name and h<>use of
the dead, be left childless, and have
his own name blotted out from under
Heaven? No, verily no; he would
be under the necessity of marrying
another wife, besides his brother's
widow, in order that his own house
and his own name might be perpetu-
ated among the tribes of Israel.
The continuation of the name and
posterity of a righteous man was
considered a great blessing; hence
David exclaims before the Lord, say-
ing: "The children of thy servants
shall continue, and their seed shall be
established before thee." (Psalm
102 : 28.) To have the chain of
posterity broken by death was con-
sidered a great calamity, therefore
the Lord made strict provisions for
such cases. If the deceased had no
brother living, it then fell upon the
nearest kinsman to marry his widow.
We have an example of this given
in the book of Ruth : her husband
being dead, and having no child, nor
any brother to marry his widow,
Boaz, his uncle, one of the brothers
of his father, took Ruth for his wife,
"to raise up the name of the dead
upon his inheritance, that the name
of the dead be not cut off from among
his brethren, and from the gate of his
place." (Ruth 4: 10.) Thus Boaz
and Ruth became the great grand
parents of David.
This order of things did not origi-
nate with the law of Moses ; it was
in existence in the diys of the pa-
triarchs long before Moses was born.
Judah had three sons, namely, Er,
Onan, and Shelah. Er, having mar-
ried Tamar, died because of his
wickedness without a child. "And
Judah said unto Onan, go in unto thy
brother's wife and marry her, and
raise up seed to thy brother. And
Onan knew that the seed should not
be his," and though he married her,
he refused to "give seed to his brother.
And the thing thai he did displeased
the Lord; wherefore he slew him
also." (Gen. 38: 6-10.) Shelah
being too young to marry, Judah re-
quired Tamar to "remain a widow at
her father's house until Shelah was
grown." Thus we see that before
the law of Moses was given the pa-
triarchs understood and practiced the
law which required the brother of the
deceased to marry his widow, for the
purpose of continuing the name of the
dead. This law as we have seen
necessarily includes a plurality of
wives.
In a nation as numerous as Israel
there would naturally be many thous-
ands of instances throughout all their
generations where husbands would
die without children ; and there also
would be many thousands of instances
where the living brother or next kins-
man, though already married, would
be required by the law to marry the
widow. It must be remembered that
this order of things was in full force,
and all Israel were required to ob-
serve it, at the time our Saviour and
his apostles went forth preaching
among that nation. Question. Was
there anything connected with the
gospel and teachings of Christ or his
apostles, intended to abolish the law
in relation to the widow of the dead?
When our Saviour and his servants
went forth through all the cities of
Israel, preaching, baptizing, and in-
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
63
trnducing into the church all who
would receive their testimony, is
it at all likely that thpy condemned
those who had married a plurality of
wives in obedience to the law ? What
would they naturally have said to a
man who had married half a dozen
widows of his brothers who had died
childless? Would they have con-
demned him for keeping the law?
Would they have refused him en-
trance into the Christian Church, be-
cause he had been faithful to the law ?
Would they have required him to put
away the widows of the dead whom
the law had compelled him to marry?
If he had not kept the law. would he
not have been condemned by the
law? Hear what the penalty of dis-
obedience is, " Cursed be he that con-
firmeth not all the words of this law
to do them. And all the people shall
say, amen. (I)eut. 27: 26.) A man,
then, was bound under a heavy curse
to marry all the widows of his de-
ceased brothers who died childless.
Must he, therefore, be a cast-away
for doing his duty? Must he be kept
without the pale of the Christian
Church, unless he put away all his
wives but one ? Such an idea is pre-
posterous. On the other hand, if
Jesus and his servants had found a
man in all Israel who had refused to
obey this law — who would not marry
the widows of his dead brothers, they
would have reproved him as a trans-
gressor ; they would have told him
that he was under a curse for ne-
glecting to obey the law ; they would
have warned him to repent; and it
is very doubtful whether they would
have received him into the Christian
Church, unless he first manifested
his repentance by observing the law,
and marrying the widows, as required.
And again, we ask, was it not just
as necessary for Israel, under the
Christian dispensation, to observe
this law, and perpetuate the name of
the dead, as under the Patriarchal
and Mosaic dispensations? Why
was it necessary that the name of
the dead should be held so sacred,
until Christ came, and then be en
tirely neglected and forgotton ? Some
may say that when Christ came, " old
things were done away and all thingg
became new." But who does not
know that this had reference only to
the law of carnal commandments and
ordinances which Christ came to ful-
fil? Who does not know that there
were many commandments and laws
which were connected with the law
of ordinances which were continued
under the gospel? The ten com-
mandments were not done away in
Christ. Prayer which was practised
under the law, was also necessary
under the gospel. The law against
adultery was not abolished by the
gospel. The gospel did not abolish
the law against stealing, against kill-
ing, against taking the name of the
Lord in vain, against false witnesses,
against drunkenness, or against any
other abominations. Christ did not
do away the law of doing good to
ones neighbor, the law of upright-
ness and honesty which should char-
acterize their dealings, one with
another. Christ, by introducing the
gospel, never intended to abolish the
law practised among Israel in help-
ing the poor, the needy, the father-
less, and the widow. Hence there
were hundreds of commands and
laws under the Patriarchal and Mo-
saic dispensations which Christ did
not come to do away. What was
moral, and good, and righteous be-
fore Christ came was equally so af-
ter he came, unless we can find some
evidence to the contrary. If it was
a good, moral, and righteous act, be-
fore Christ to remember the dead
who left no posterity, it was equally
so after Christ, unless we can find
something in Christ's doctrine, abol-
ishing the law of marriage in behalf
of the dead. What is there in the
gospel that conflicts with the idea of
the widows of several brothers that
are dead, marrying the only surviv-
ing brother, and the first born of
each being called after the name of
the dead, that his name and lineage
might be perpetuated to future gene-
rations ? Why should it be thought
so very important to continue the
names and lineages of the millions
64
CONTENTS.
of Israel for thousands of years, and
then all at once abolish the law es-
tablished for this purpose ?
There were thousands of Israelites,
who, if they lived up to their law, musl
have had a plurality of wives when
the gospel was first introduced among
them. And as the Apostles were
commanded to preach the gospel to
every creature, they must have
preached it to these thousands of
Polygamists. How could they be-
come members of the church of Christ?
If plurality of wives was not tolerated
in the Christain Church, it is evident
that these Jewish Polygamists would
have to break up their families and
each give a bill of divorcement unto
all his wives, but one : but the gos-
pel forbids the giving of a bill of di
voice, only in case of adultery. The
gospel says "what God has joined
together let no man put assunder."
A man, then, who had married several
widows of his deceased brothers ac-
cording to the law, (being under a
heavy curse if he refused,) \fould
have no right to put them assunder
or give them a bill of divorce. What
must he do ? According to the views
of modern Christendom he could not
enter the Christian Church with a
plurality of wives, and according to
the gospel he would have no right t<>
divorce them. Therefore, he would
be without hope; no possible way for
for him to be saved. Who so
destitute of common sense as to
believe, for one moment, such ab-
surdities ? Thousands of the Israel-
ites, then, were compelled, through
fear of the curse of disobedience, to
marry a plurality of wives . and these
thousands of Polygamists were com-
pelled by the gospel not to divorce
their wives only for the sin of adul-
tery. Therefore either the Christian
Church must have tolerated Poly-
gamy, or else they must have been
under the necessity of unlawfully di-
vorcing that which God had joined
together, or else they must have con-
sidered that all such, because of their
faithfulness to the law in behalf of
the dead, had placed themselves be-
yond the reach of gospel mercy. Here
are three alternatives ; which will
the Christian choose? To choose
either of (he latter two would be, not
only unscriptural, but sinful in the
highest decree. The first alternative
ilone remains, namely, to tolerate
the plurality system as a divine in-
stitution; to admit Jewi-h Polygamists
into the Christian Church, with all
their wives, through their faith and
obedience to the gospel.
{To be continued.)
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 49
Celestial Marriage 58
Contents 64
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
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at $1 per annum, invariably in advance
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains. — Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
MAY, 1853.
No. 5.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
( Continued.)
51. Whether the spirit of Adam or
Michael stood next in age to the first
horn, and by virtue of his age was
entitled to the chief command, revela
tion does not determine. It may be
that he attained that exalted station
through his good works independent
of his age. Whatever may have
been the cause that placed him at the
head, it is evident that he honored his
calling and gained a complete victory
and was counted worthy to be the
first spirit who was permitted to have
a body upon the new world. He thus
became the first father of the fleshly
bodies which were to be inhabited by
the numerous hosts of spirits who
were once martialed under his com
mand. In the spiritual world all the
spirits were brethren and sisters,
springing from the same Father ; but
in the temporal world Michael be-
came a father to his own brethren,
according to the flesh.
52. When Michael was put into
his earthly tabernacle, the inspired
translation informs us that he was
"the first flesh upon the earth;" the
tabernacles of the fish, fowls, and
beasts were not yet formed, neither
were there any herbs, or grass, or
trees, or vegetables, of any descrip-
tion upon the earth when Adam's
body was formed. The earth, air,
and ocean were truly empty and des-
olate of both vegetable and animal
life. It is true, as we have already
stated, that all these things had been
created spiritually in Heaven, but as
yet had not been placed upon the
earth. Man, therefore, stood alone
in the midst of this vast solitude.
The description of the creation, as
given in the Book of Abraham, con-
firms this idea and shows most clearly
that the vegetables and animals were
not placed upon the earth on the third,
fifth, and sixth days or periods, as has
been generally supposed. The his-
tory of the third day's work reads as
follows : " And the Gods ordered,
sdying, Let the waters under the
Heaven be gathered together unto
one place, and let the earth come up
dry ; and it was so as they ordered ;
and the Gods pronounced the earth
dry, and the gathering together of the
waters pronounced they great waters ;
and the Gods saw that they were
obeyed. And the Gods said, "Let us
prepare the earth to bring forth grass;
the herb yielding seed ; the fruit tree
yielding fruit, after his kind, whose
seed in itself yieldeth its own like,
ness upon the earth ; and it was so
even as they ordered. And the Gods
organized the earth to bring forth
grass from its own seed, and the herb
to bring forth herb from its own seed,
yielding seed after his kind ; and the
earth to bring forth the tree from its
own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed
66
THE FEE-EXISTENCE OF MAST.
coold only bring forth the same in it-
self, after his kind ; and the Gods saw
that they were obeyed. And it came
to pass that they numbered the days;
from the evening until the morning
they called night ; and it came to
pass, from the morning until the
evening they called day ; and it was
the third time."
By attentively reading the above
quotation, it will be perceived that
the Gods, instead of actually sowing
the seed or setting out the plants,
only prepared or organized the earth
to bring forth vegetables at some fu-
ture time, when they should see
proper to plant them. It may be
asked, What preparation the ground
needed ? The answer is not given ;
but we may naturally suppose that the
different ingredients necessary to a
soil adapted to vegetation were not
united in their proper proportions. It
is altogether likely, then, that the
preparation of the earth to bring forth
vegetables consisted in bringing to-
gether, combining, and uniting the
elements and their compounds in such
proportions as should form a soil
adapted to the growth of vegetables
of every kind ; this preparation of the
ground took place during the third day
or time ; but on that day there were
no herbs, grasses, trees, or vegeta-
bles of any description planted. The
sowing of seed and planting was post-
poned until some future period.
53. It has generally been supposed
that the fish and fowls were made on
the fifth day, but the Book of Abra-
ham gives entirely a different idea;
a description of the fifth day's work
is as follows :
"And the Gods said, Let us pre-
pare the waters to bring forth abund-
antly the moving creatures that have
life ; and the fowl that they may fly
above the earth in the open expanse
of Heaven. And the Gods prepared
the waters that they might bring forth
great whales, and every living crea-
ture that moveth, which the waters
were to bring forth abundantly after
their kind ; and every winged fowl
after their kind. And the Gods saw
that they would be obeyed and that
their plan was good. And the Gods
said, We will bless them and cause
them to be fruitful and multiply, and
fill the waters in the seas or great
waters ; and cause the fowl to multi-
ply in the earth. And it came to
pass that it was from evening until
morning that they called night; and
it came to pass that it was from morn-
ing until evening that they called day;
and it was the fifth time."
It will be seen from this descrip-
tion that the fifth day's labor consisted
not in the formation of the tabernacles
offish and fowl, but in preparing the
waters and the elements to bring forth
these creatures, or in other words, to
sustain them after the Lord should
make them and place them therein.
What this preparation was we are
not informed, but we may reasonably
conclude that there needed to be a
union or combination of other sub-
stances with those of water and air
in order to prepare them for the crea-
tures who should in due time dwell
therein. Perhaps there was not a
proper proportion of heat, light, elec-
tricity, and other substances in union
with the air and water to sustain the
animal life, destined to occupy those
elements. The fifth day's labor,
therefore, instead of forming these
animals, merely prepared a place for
them so that they might be sustained
when they should be formed.
54. From the uninspired transla-
tion of the book of Genesis it has also
been supposed that the cattle and
creeping things, and beasts of the
earth were formed on the sixth day ;
but the Book of Abraham gives a
more full description of the sixth day's
work. It reads as follows :
"And the Gods prepared the earth
to bring forth the living creature after
his kind, cattle and creeping things,
and beasts of the earth after their
kind ; and it was so, as they had
said. And the Gods organized the
earth to bring forth the beasts after
their kind, and cattle after their kind,
and everything that creepeth upon
the earth after their kind ; and the
Gods saw they would obey. And the
Gods took counsel among themselves
and said, Let us go down and form
man in our image, after our likeness ;
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
67
and we will give them dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and
over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth. So the Gods went down to or-
ganize man in their own image, in the
image of the Gods to form they him,
male and female, to form they them ;
and the Gods said, We will bless
them. And the Gods said, We will
cause them to be fruitful and multiply
ana' replenish the earth, and subdue
it, and to have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth. And the
Gods said, Behold we will give them
every herb bearing seed that shall
come upon the face of all the earth,
and every tree which shall have fruit
upon it, yea, the fruit of the tree
yielding seed to them we will give it,
it shall be for their meat; and to
every beast of the earth, and to every
fowl of the air, and to everything that
creepeth upon the earth, behold, we
will give them life, and also we will
give to them every green herb for
meat, and all these things shall
be thus organized. And the Gods
said, We will do every thing that we
have said, and organize them ; and
behold, they shall be very obedient.
And it came to pass that it was from
evening until morning they called
night ; and it came to pass that it
was from morning until evening that
they called day ; and they numbered
the sixth time.
And thus we will finish the Hea-
vens and the earth, and all the hosts
of them. And the Gods said among
themselves, on the seventh time we
will end our work which we have
counselled ; and we will rest on the
seventh time from all our work which
we have counselled. And the Gods
concluded upon the seventh time, be-
cause that on the seventh time they
would rest from all their works which
they (the Gods) counselled among
themselves to form, and sanctified it.
And thus were their decisions at the
time that they counselled among
themselves to form the Heavens and
the earth. And the Gods came down
and formed these the generations of
the Heavens and of the earth, when
they were formed, in the day that the
Gods formed the earth and the Hea-
vens, according to all that which they
had said concerning every plant of
the field before it was in the earth,
and every herb of the field before it
grew; for the Gods had not caused
it to rain upon the earth when they
counselled to do them, and had not
formed a man to till the ground ; but
there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the
ground. And the Gods formed man
from the dust of the ground, and took
his spirit, (that is, the man's spirit,)
and put it into him, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became a living soul.
And the Gods planted a garden,
eastward in Eden, and there they put
the Man, whose spirit they had put
into the body which they had formed.
And out of the ground made the Gods
to grow every tree that is pleasant to
the sight and good for food : the tree
of life, also, in the midst of the gar-
den, and the tree of knowledge, of
good and evil. There was a river
running out of Eden, to water the
garden, and from thence it was parted
and became into four heads. And
the Gods took the Man and put him
in the garden of Eden, to dress it and
to keep it : and the Gods commanded
the Man, saying, of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat, but of
the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for in
the time that thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham,
saw that it was after the Lord's time,
which was after the time of Kolob ;
for as yet the Gods had not appointed
unto Adam his reckoning.
And the Gods said, let us make an
help meet for the Man, for it is not
good that the man should be alone,
therefore, we will form an help meet
for him. And the Gods caused a
deep sleep to fall upon Adam ; and he
slept, and they took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh in the stead
thereof, and the rib which the Goda
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
had taken from Man formed they a
Woman, and brought her unto the
Man. And Adam said, this was bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,
now she shall be called Woman, be-
cause she was taken out of Man ;
therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and shall cleave unto
his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the Man
and his wife, and were not ashamed.
And out of the ground the Gods
formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air, and brought
them unto Adam to see what he would
call them ; and whatsoever Adam cab
led every living creature, that should
be the name, thereof. And Adam
gave names to all cattle, to the fowl
of the air, to every beast of the field :
and for Adam there was found an help
meet for him."* From the descrip.
tion here given of the sixth day's
labor, it will be perceived that the
Gods on that day merely "prepared
the earth to bring forth" cattle, living
things, beasts, creeping things, and
Man. The Gods also counselled
among themselves, on that day, what
should be given to Man and every
species of animals for food : they also
determined on the dominion which
they would give to Man after his for-
mation ; and many more things were
determined on the sixth day, in the
grand council of the Gods, in relation
to the future creation of vegetable and
animal existence on the earth. But
the sixth day's labor seems to have
been accomplished before either veg-
etables or animals had any existence
on the earth. During these six days,
or periods, the Heavens and the earth
seemed to have been undergoing a
series of changes, preparations, and
organizations, preparatory to the in-
troduction of animals and vegetables
which were to constitute the finishing
or ending of this temporal creation.
But when were the animals and veg-
etables formed temporally, and placed
on the earlh ? From the description
* Book of Abraham, translated from
Egyptian Papyrus through the gift and
power of the Holy Ghost by Joseph the
Seer.
given, they were formed out of the
ground during the seventh day or
period.
A still further evidence, that the
temporal body of Man was formed on
the seventh day, is given in the "Key
to the Revelations of St. John,"
which was revealed to Joseph the
Seer. In this Key, the following
question is asked : " What are we to
understand by the sounding of the
trumpets, mentioned in the 8th chap,
ter of the Revelations ? " T'ue Lord
answered the question as follows: —
" We are to understand that as God
made the world in six days, and on
the seventh day he finished his work,
and sanctified it, and also formed Man
out of the dust of the earth; even so, in
the beginning of the seventh thousand
years will the Lord God sanctify the
earth, and complete the salvation of
man, and judge all things, and shall re-
deem all things, except that which he
hath not put into his power, when he
shall have sealed all things, unto the
end of all things : and the sounding
ui the trumpets of the seven angels,
are the preparing and finishing of his
work, in the beginning of the seventh
thousand years ; the preparing of the
way before the time of his coming."
Here we are plainly told, that "God
made the world in six days, and on
the seventh day he finished his work
and sanctified it, and also formed Man
out of the dust of the earth." Man,
therefore, was formed out of the dust,
not on the sixth day, but on the
seventh.
55. As the tabernacle of Adam
was formed out of the dust on the
seventh day, so were the tabernacles
of every species of animals, birds,
and fish, together with every variety
of vegetables, all formed on the sev-
enth day. This idea is clearly re-
vealed in Joseph Smith's inspired
translation of the second chapter of
Genesis, from which we have al-
ready made an extract in the 18th
paragraph ; by reference to which it
will be seen that Man was " the first
flesh upon the earth, the first Man
also," and as he was made on the
seventh day or period, all the rest
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
69
must have been made on the seventh.
The garden was planted on the sev.
enth, and Man was placed in the
garden on the seventh. Every beast
and fowl was made out of the ground
and brought to Adam to be named on
the seventh day. Eve also was made
out of one of his ribs on the seventh
day. All the grass, and herbs, and
trees, according to their kinds, were
made to grow out of the ground on
the seventh day or time. And before
the seventh day there was no vege-
table or animal existence on our
earth. Even the English version,
or the uninspired translation of the
2nd chapter of Genesis, conveys the
same idea, namely, that the man was
made first, and afterwards the ani-
mals and vegetables, and that all
these organized living beings were
made naturally, out of the ground, on
the seventh day. The first chapter
of Genesis, so far as these living
beings are concerned, is only a his-
tory of their spiritual creation as we
have explained in a former part of
this treatise.
56. What was the length of each
of those periods, called days in the
history of the creation? Revelation
has not definitely answered this ques-
tion. But from what is revealed, we
may infer that time was not reckoned
in relation to the events of creation,
in the same manner as it is now.
We are not sure that the earth was
made to revolve on it axis in the
period that it does now. If the earth
had, at the first formation, a swifter
rotation than at present, then a part
of the waters which are now around
the two polar regions, would, by the
centrifugal force, have overspread the
equatorial regions, and the whole
solid nucleus of the earth would have
been immersed in the great deep.
This was the condition of our globe,
during the first two days of the crea-
tion. But on the third day, the
waters were gathered together, and
the dry land or the solid portions of
the earth appeared. This could all
have been accomplished by merely
checking the velocity of the earth's
rotation, which would cause the
equatorial ocean to flow into the po-
lar regions, leaving an equatorial
continent of dry land. But the ve-
locity of the earth's rotation would
have to be greatly diminished below
its present standard in order to pro-
duce an equatorial zone of dry land,
encircling the whole globe. If the
earth should rotate upon its axis once
in a thousand of our present years,
such a zone would necessarily be
produced, unless prevented by oppos-
ing causes : the length of each day
may have been regulated by the dif-
ferent periods of rotation ; and these
periods may have been much shorter
or longer than at present. And
again, the alternations of light and
© 7 ©
darkness for the first three days, do
not appear to have been regulated by
the sun, therefore they may have
been of much longer or shorter dura-
tion than what we behold at present.
There is a clause in the Book of
Abraham, from which we may infer,
that the length of each of these days
was one thousand years as the in-
habitants of the earth afterwards
reckoned time. In speaking of the
curse which should fall upcn Adam
in case he should partake of the for-
bidden fruit, the Gods said, " For in
the time that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abra-
ham, saw that it was after the Lord's
time, which was after the time of
Kolob ; for as yet the Gods had not
appointed unto Adam his reckoning."
The time on Kolob, as given in the
Book of Abraham, may be under-
stood from the following extract : —
" Kolob, signifying the first creation,
nearest to the celestial, or the resi-
dence of God. First in government,
the last pertaining to the measure-
ment of time. The measurement,
according to celestial time ; which
celestial time signifies one day to a
cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to
a thousand years, according to the
measurement of this earth, which is
called by the Egyptians, Jah-oh-eh."
One day of celestial time, or of the
Lord's time, is equal to one thousand
years, according to our measurement
of time. Adam, therefore, if he par-
70
THE PRE-EXFSTENCE OF MAN.
took of the forbidden fruit, was to die
within a thousand years. It is pos-
sible that the seven days of creation
were reckoned, according to celestial
time ; if so, the whole period must
have been seven thousand years. If
Adam were made at the beginning of
the seventh period, he must have
lived till near its close. There is,
however, no certainty how long these
periods were.
57. The Heaven, earth, animals, ve-
getables, and all things, pertaining to
this creation, being finished, the Lord
pronounced the whole "very good."
Sorrow, misery, sickness, pain, and
death, were unknown. Immortality
was enstamped upon man and the
whole animal kingdom. If any living
creature, had been subject to death,
or any manner of pain, it would not
have been perfect in its organization;
it could not have been pronounced
good ; neither would it have been
consistent, as the work of an all-wise
and supremely good Being. Perfec-
tion characterizes all the works of
God, therefore, all the tabernacles
which he made from the dust, must
have been capable of eternal endu-
rance. There must have been some-
thing connected with these fleshly
tabernacles which was capable of
preserving them in immortality.
What was this something ? It was
doubtless a fluid which circulated
through the system in every part
thereof, preserving it from decay, and
from being impaired by age, renew-
ing, if necessary, any part thereof,
that disease, sickness, pain, and death,
could have no dominion. The circu-
lating apparatus for the conveyance
of this fluid, was, no doubt, the veins
and arteries, as they extend forth in
innumerable branches, and in minute
ramifications to every extremity of the
organization. The fluid, now circu-
lating through this apparatus, is the
blood : but the blood does not renew
our systems and give immortality to
our present bodies ; blood is our nat-
ural life as the Lord said to Noah : —
"Flesh with the life thereof, which is
the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
(Gen. 9: 4.) Blood, instead of im- '
parting eternal life to the system, only
imparts a natural or temporal life, and
contains within itself all the ingre-
dients of decay and death or dissolu-
tion. It is reasonable to suppose,
then, that a fluid of a more refined
and life-giving nature, flowed through
the bodily organizations of our first
Parents, and all the other animal
creation — that this fluid was the life-
preserving agent, that imparted im-
mortality to all flesh, so long as they
retained it in their systems. As this
fluid could not have been blood which
contains the seeds of death, What
kind of substance was it 1 We reply,
that it must have been a spiritual
substance or fluid, which is the only
kind of substance capable of preserv-
ing any organization in immortality.
Were there any trees, or fruits, or
vegetables of any kind which the
Lord had planted, that were calcula-
ted, if eaten, to counteract, or subvert
the operations of this spiritual fluid,
and introduce into the system a fluid
of a different nature 1 There was
only one tree which would produce
these deleterious effects — only one
tree whose fruit, if taken into the sys-
tem, would change it from immortal-
ity to mortality — all other fruits and
vegetables were so constructed as to
produce no harm ; hence they were
the only food which God gave to the
immortal animals which he placed
upon this earth. We may suppose
that the vegetable creation, with the
exception of this one tree, contained,
at that time, no poisons — no ingre-
dients of decay and death — no inju-
rious combinations unadapted to im-
mortal flesh and bones. The bodies
of Adam and Eve, and of all the fish,
fowls, and beasts which God made
directly out of the dust, would have
been still living as fresh and as fair
as when they first came from the hand
of their Maker, if Adam had not par-
taken of the forbidden fruit. All
other fruits were good for them, and
they might have feasted upon <hpm to
all eternity without destroying the
immortality of their bodies.
58. Let us next inquire, Whether
Michael, after taking a tabernacle un-
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
71
der the name of Adam, lost or forgot
any of his previous knowledge ? It is
quite evident that Michael, when he
had charge of the armies in Heaven,
must have known good and evil, to
some extent, at least; for if he were
ignorant of good and evil, he could
not have received any merit for keep-
ing his first estate. If he did not un-
derstand the nature of evil, he would
not have fought against one-third part
of the hosts of Heaven for doing evil.
If Michael stood forth as a bold cham-
pion for the rights of his brethren,
and for that which was good, he must
have understood the nature of good.
If spirits, in their first estate, did not
know good from evil, Why were they
thrust down and bound with "ever-
lasting chains of darkness " for doing
that which they did not know to be
evil? Would any parent, here in
this world, banish his children ever-
lastingly from his presence, without
any hopes of recovery, for doing
those things which they did not know
to be evil? Our hearts would revolt
at the very idea of such injustice in
an earthly parent. Shall we then
represent God as more unjust than
man ? Shall we say that he will
punish with everlasting punishment
the rebellious angels without a suffi-
cient cause ? Shall he doom them to
endless misery for acts which they
did not know to be evil ? It is evi-
dent, then, that the angels in their
first estate knew good and evil; and
therefore, were subjects of reward
and punishment for their acts. But
when Adam was placed in the Gar-
den, he did not know good and evil;
therefore, the knowledge which he
once was in possession of, in regard
to good and evil, was lost and forgot-
ten. To what extent he had lost the
knowledge of other subjects, we are
not informed. It is very probable
that he remembered nothing in rela-
tion to the events which transpired in
his previous state. Possessing an
intelligent spirit capable of being in-
structed, he, doubtless, received in-
formation by the immediate inspira-
tion of the Spirit of God, and from
God, Himself, who was personally
with him. He had sufficient intelli-
gence imparted to him, to give names
to all beasts, and cattle, and the fowls
of the air, when the Lord brought
them unto him; he had intelligence
enough to know that Eve was made
from one of his ribs ; hence, he said
"This is now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my flesh : she shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out
of man." God imparted to him a
language by which to express his
ideas. It is not at all likely that Adam
acquired the knowledge of the lan-
guage which he used, in his spiritual
state. Though spirits make use of
language, it is very probable that
their ideas are not conveyed by sounds
through the medium of an atmosphere
similar to ours. Their communica-
tions to one another are through signs
and media adapted to a spiritual state
and a spiritual world: while our ver-
bal communications are by sounds,
conveyed through the air. The lan-
guage, therefore, which Adam spake
must have been given to him by the
immediate inspiration of the Almighty,
the same as he gave a variety of
tongues to the people who were build-
ing the tower. The same power that
gave him the language, gave to him
the ideas expressed by the language.
Therefore, we may reasonably believe
that when the spirit of Michael en-
tered his tabernacle he was deprived
of all his previous knowledge, not
only in relation to good and evil, but
in relation to all other subjects, and
that all the knowledge he acquired
previous to his fall, was obtained by
observation, reflection, and immediate
inspiration: that he had to lay aside
his former information and begin at
the first principles of knowledge and
ascend by degrees from truth to truth
until he should regain all the light and
intelligence he possessed in the spirit
world, and even more, inasmuch as
he was placed in a condition to learn
things by experience that could not
have been learned in the spiritual ex-
istence.
59. Why was man deprived of all
his former knowledge when he left
the spirit world and came here ? It
72
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAW.
was in order that he might have a
second trial or probation under new
circumstances and conditions to which
he had not previously been subject.
If he had entered this world, retain-
ing his previous knowledge, many
things which would be a trial to one,
possessing a small degree of informa-
tion, would have been no trial to him,
and many temptations which would
not overcome one who had been
faithfully tried through every succes-
sive grade of knowledge from its first
principles upwards, would prevail
against, and completely triumph over
a man who had great knowledge but
yet, had never been tried and learn-
ed by experience the necessity of re-
sisting temptation through all the dif-
ferent grades or degrees of intelli-
gence from the first principles there-
of. Man therefore, had taken from
him his past knowledge, in order that
he might begin again, under a new
set of circumstances and show him-
self approved or disapproved for his
use of every degree of light and truth
that should be imparted to him. The
condemnation of man is in proportion
to the degree of light and truth under
which he transgresses. If he came
here with all the knowledge he had
in the spirit world, and yet, being in-
experienced in regard to many temp-
tations which would beset his path-
way in this life, he would be as like-
ly to be overcome as one having less
knowledge, and, therefore, would be
in greater danger of coming under a
heavier penalty. It was wisdom,
therefore, that man should lose, in
his second estate, his former informa-
tion, that he might be strengthened
by degrees, and learn, little by little,
how to overcome his imperlections
and resist all evil.
60. If man had descended from
the spirit world and had taken flesh
and bones with all his previous
knowledge, and had not been tried
under these new circumstances, his
Father could not, with confidence,
have entrusted him with the bless
ings, authority, and power which he
designed to bestow upon him in a fu-
ture state ; for a being that has not
been tried in all things may not en-
dure the trials, if they should at any
time come upon him. It is better
that he should fall in a state of par-
tial ignorance, than to fall after be-
ing entrusted with power ; for, in the
latter case, he would, not only injure
himself, but injure all those over
whom he had control. It is for this
reason, that man is tempted and tried
in all things, through all the succes-
sive degrees of knowledge from the
first principles thereof until he re-
ceives a fulness of truth and knows
all things, and then he is entrusted
with all power, and all beings will
have full confidence in him ; but if
any temptation prevail against him,
and overcome him, he is not entrust-
ed will all knowledge and power, and
therefore cannot inherit the fulness
of ihe Father's glory.
61. Man being without the knowl-
edge of good and evil would be in a state
of innocence ; and being immortal,
not subject to pain or death, he would
be entirely ignorant concerning the
nature of pain or misery ; it could not
be described to him, so as to con-
vey to his mind the least idea of its
nature. Nothing short of suffering
pain could impart to him a knowledge
respecting it. As a blind man who
has never seen light or color can
form no conception of its nature, or
as as a deaf person who has never
heard sound, is entirely ignorant of
the nature of sound, so likewise Adam
and Eve could never form the most
distant idea of pain or misery, with-
out experiencing in their own persons
this curious sensation. A knowledge
of pain never could have been derived
from the reasoning faculties, neither
could they have derived it from ob-
servation, for there was no creature
upon the earth which suffered pain ;
and even if they could have been per-
mitted to observe other beings endu-
ring pain, it could not have imparted
the idea to them ; hence if they had
lived eternally they never would have
gained this knowledge only by suffer-
ing it themselves.
(To be continued.)
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
73
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
(Continued.)
That this divine institution was I private members and all the church
practiced under the Christian dispen- were limited to one, Paul's instruc-
sation, is still further evident, not only I tion for the bishops and deacons to be
from the foregoing reasons, but from
the instructions which Paul gave to
Timothy and Titus, concerning Bis.
the husbands of one wife would have
been altogether unnecessary. If there
were no such practice prevailing in
hops and Deacons. He says " A the Christian Church, instead of con-
bishop, then must be blameless, the
husband of one wife, vigilant, sober,
of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach." (1 Tim. 3: 2.) "Let
the deacons be the husbands of one
wife, ruling their children and their
own houses well." (Verse 12.) "If
any be blameless, the husband of one
wife, having faithful children not ac
fining these officers to one wife, he
would have required them to receive
no person into the church who had
more than one. The very expres-
sion, "The bishop must be the hus-
band of one wife" is a strong indica-
tion that there were many in the
church who were the husbands of
more than one ; and on this account
cused of riot or unruly. For a bishop it was necessary that Timothy and
must be blameless, as the steward I Titus should receive instructions in
of God." (Titus 1: 6, 7.) There regard to their selections for ordina-
are two different meanings frequently ; tion. Any person can see that if
attached to these passages : First, It
is supposed that Paul intended to pro-
hibit all single or unmarried men
from being entrusted with the offices
of bishop and deacon ; that he re-
quired that they should be married,
at least, to one wife, as a prerequisite
to ordination. By those who take
this view of the subject, it is believed,
that a man must, as Paul says, "first
be proved" by marrying at least one
wife, ruling "well his own house,
having his children in subjection ;
(for if a man know not how to rule
his own house" says Paul, " how shall
he take care of the church of God?")
If this view of the subject be correct,
then Paul did not intend to limit the
bishop or deacon to one wife, but
merely intended to show that he must,
as a qualification, be married, or must
be the husband of one wife, before he
could be ordained to either of those
offices. Second, It is supposed by
many that these offices were not to
be conferred upon those who had more
than one wife. If this view of the
subject be correct, (and it evidently
appears to be the true meaning of the
passages,) then, it is very certain
that there were many in the church
who had more than one ; for if the
there were no such practice allowed
in the church, Paul never would have
mentioned this particular qualification
to be observed in the selections to be
made from the members of the church.
If there were no members who had a
plurality there would have been no
danger of Timothy's selecting a Poly-
gamist for a bishop ; hence the in-
struction would have been entirely
useless. Suppose a minister in Eng-
land were to write to his brother
minister in London concerning ordi-
nations, and should instruct him to
select such persons from his congre-
gation for the office of Deacon as
were not slave-holders, or that the
deacons must be the owners of one
slave only. Would not such instruc-
tion in England be entirely uncalled
for? And would not the individual
who wrote such instruction be con-
sidered deranged ? Where slaves do
not exist such instruction never would
be given- So likewise, if the plural-
ity of wives did not exist in the Christ-
ian Church, Paul never would have
been so foolish as to have cautioned
Timothy in regard to the selections
which he made from the members of
that church. This, therefore, is an-
other corroberative testimony that the
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
plurality doctrine was allowed under
the Christian dispensation.
But if the private members in the
Christian Church were permitted to
have more than one wife, why not
also the bishops and deacons 1 Paul
has not given us the reason. It is
quite probable, that the principal rea-
son was that the important duties de-
volving upon these offices required
them to be as free from other cares
as possible. Or as Paul says, in an-
other place, "I would have you with-
out carefulness. He that is unmar-
ried careth for the things that belong
to the Lord, how he may please the
Lord : but he that is married careth
for the things that are of the world
how he may please his wife." (1
Cor. 7 : 32, 33.) Paul knew this to
be the general disposition of mankind,
and he knew that there were but a
very few men to be found who would
sacrifice houses and lands, wives and
children, and everything else of an
earthly nature for the sake of the
gospel, therefore, he no doubt wrote
his instructions to Timothy to select
those among the church members
who had but one wife, as they would
be much more free from care than
those who had several wives and
children depending on them for their
support. Neither Paul nor any of the
other apostles has ever represented
the plurality of wives to be sinful or
evil in the sight of God. We do not
find the principle condemned either
in the Old or in the New Testament.
When Paul recommended Timothy to
select from among the Saints those
that had but one wife, he does not
give the most distant intimation that
those officers were thus limited, be-
cause to have more than one would
be sinful. It was only a matter of
expediency that they might be free
from the cares of a large family.
There were many practices that cir-
cumstances required the servants of
God to dispense with, not because
they were sinful in themselves, but
merely to comply with surrounding
customs. For instance, it was not
sinful to eat meat offered to idols, and
yet for fear that some weak brother
should be emboldened to follow the
example and eat with conscience to
the idol, and thus offend God, it be-
came a matter of wisdom to dispense
with the practice ; hence, Paul says,
" If meat make my brother to offend,
I will eat no flesh while the world
standeth, lest I make my brother to
offend." (1 Cor., 8: 13.) Paul
gave instructions in many things,
suited to circumstances : hence, we
find him in one epistle, saying, " to
the unmarried and widows, it is good
for them, if they abide even as I."
And again, "Art thou loosed from a
a wife? seek not a wife." (1 Cor.,
7 : 8, 27.) And in another epistle
he writes thus : " I will therefore
that the younger women marry, bear
children, guide the house, give none
occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully." (1 Tim., 5: 14.)
The cause of these apparently oppo-
site instructions, arose from surround-
ing circumstances. The Corinthians
had fallen into many evils. Divi-
sions, contentions, fornications, bro-
ther going to law with brother, and
various other evils existed among
them. Under these influences, Paul
was fearful to have those in that
church who were faithful, marry, lest
they should get wicked companions
that would lead them away to de-
struction. Therefore, he gave the
instructions above quoted. But in
other churches where such evils did
not exist, it was his will that they
should marry. Teachings were va-
ried to different churches as existing
conditions required. Circumstances
required Timothy to select from
among the Saints those that had but
one wife to perform the important
duties of Bishop and Deacon. If the
Saints had been less coveteous and
willing to sacrifice all things as the
apostles did at first, there would have
been no necessity for this instruction.
Bishops and Deacons might have
been taken of those Saints who had
many wives, and they would have
freely left all for the gospel's sake ;
but for the want of such whole-
hearted men, Paul had to suit his in-
structions accordingly. Among the
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
75
various qualifications which Timothy
was required to observe in selecting
men for Bishops, Paul says, " More-
over he must have a good report of
them which are without ; lest he fall
into reproach" (1 Tim., 3: 7-)
Did Paul give these instructions be-
cause he considered it a sin to be re-
proached by those who were without ?
Did he consider it a sin to have an
evil report from them who were not
in the church ? These were certainly
not the views of Paul ; for he, him-
self had been spoken evil of and re-
proached wherever he went. Jesus
says, "Blessed are ye when men
shall hate you, and when they shall
separate you from their company, and
shall reproach you, and cast out your
name as evil, for the Son of Man's
sake. Rejoice ye in that day and
leap for joy: for, behold, your reward
is great in Heaven ; for in like man-
ner did their fathers unto the pro-
phets." " Woe unto you, when all
men shall speak well of you ! for so
did their fathers to the false prophets."
(Luke 6 : 22, 23, 26.) " If they have
called the master of the house Beel-
zebub, how much more shall they call
them of his household?" (Matthew,
10 : 25.) Peter says, "If ye be re-
proached for the name of Christ, hap-
py are ye." (1 Peter 4 : 14.) But
why was Timothy instructed to select
for the office of Bishop such as had
"a good report of them which are
without, lest he fall into reproach ?"
Was it because all others in the
church were sinners? Was it be-
cause none who were reproached and
spoken evil of for Christ's sake were
qualified for the office of Bishop?
Was it because God condemned all
those whom the world condemned ?
No : it was for none of these causes
that Paul gave this instruction ; it
was merely as a matter of expediency:
there were others, no doubt, who were
more righteous in the sight of God,
and better qualified for the office of
Bishop whom the world hated and re-
proached and spake all manner of evil
against. Yet Paul, for some reason,
considered it best to select such as the
world spake well of. His object
might have been to allay the spirit of
persecution which was then raging
among those who were without. His
instructions were suited to surround-
ing circumstances in regard to this, as
in relation to their being the hus-
bands of one wife. It was no more
sinful to be the husband of a plurality
of wives, than it was to be reproached
and have an evil report from them
who were without. In the first his
object was to have the Bishops free
from the multiplied cares of a large
family, and in ihe second to allay the
hostilities of the enemy, by selecting
those who were of good report among
them.
We should be pleased to have some
of the wise theologians of our day
bring forward even one passage from
either the Old or New Testament to
prove that the plurality of wives is
an evil. Let them produce some
passage, if they can, to show that
such a practice was sinful either un-
der the Patriarchal, Mosaic, or Chris-
tian dispensations. Let them show
that the practice was not continued
under the Christian dispensation.
Where and when did our Saviour
ever condemn it? Where and when
did any of his Apostles ever condemn
it ? Here, then, ye ministers of
Christendom, are some grave ques-
tions for you to settle. Would you
convert the "Mormons" of Utah Ter-
ritory from this practice, show them
that it is sinful or unscriptural. No
sooner was it sounded abroad through
the columns of the Seer that the
Saints in Utah believed in and prac-
ticed the plurality of wives, than the
whole army of editors and ministers
throughout Christendom formed them-
selves in battle array ; the thunder of
their artillery is heard reverberating
from nation to nation, as though they
would annihilate the poor citizens of
Utah with one tremendous onslaught.
Curses, denunciations, and ridicule,
are poured out like a flood upon their
heads. The whole English vocabu-
lary is exhausted to find epithets and
reproaches sufficiently expressive of
their holy horror. But in this holy
war where is the editor or minister
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
that can brandish the sword of truth
against that which he condemns ?
Where is the theological Goliah of
modern Christendom that can stand
before the sling stones of truth as
they are hurled by the power of Is-
rael's God into the midst of the ene-
my's camp ? Denunciations are not
arguments — curses and vile re-
proaches will not convince the judg-
ment nor enlighten mankind — Editors
and ministers will find some wise
men yet left on the earth who are
not afraid of the Bible nor of Bible
truths : by that sacred volume they
will form their judgment, and not
upon popular traditions nor the de-
nunciations of the bigoted. Wise
men of Babylon wonder — editors are
astonished — ministers are amazed —
priestcraft trembles to its very cen-
tre— and the Devil and his angels
are mad to think that after all their
united exertions to put a stop to the
spread of this "awful delusion''1 as it
is denounced, it still prospers with un-
paralleled success among every na-
tion to which it has been published.
How is it, inquires the wise states-
men, that such a bare-faced imposi-
tion converts its tens of thousands
annually among the most civilized
nations of the earth 1 What is the
secret of its prosperity? We will
tell you, Mr. Statesman, there are
many tens of thousands of honest up.
right men who, in despite of priest-
craft, will investigate for themselves,
and in so doing, they find that " Mor-
monism," which is called by editors
and ministers a "barefaced imposi-
tion," has never as yet been proved
to be such — they find that the cry of
delusion is one thing, and the proof
of delusion is another, they reason
within themselves, that if " Mormon-
ism" is such a " base imposition,"
why has not some giant theologian
been able, after a score of years, to
prove it to be such ? They find the
world flooded with books, pamphlets,
periodicals, editors, ministers, mobs,
and murderers, all crying " beware
of Mormonism!" "Beware of that
soul-destroying imposition!" "Be-
ware of the wicked, beastly, licenti-
ous Mormons ! !" "Beware of Mor-
mon Polygamy ! ! !" " The Mor-
mons of Utah are Polygamists ! ! !"
"O awful!" "O horrible!" "O
abominable !" " Who could have be-
lieved it!" "Cannot Gen. Pierce
do something to put a stop to this
dreadful evil !" " To avert the ca-
lamities of civil war the Mormons
should be made to obey the laws !"
Such are the arguments, Mr. States-
men, that wise and candid men hear
against the so-called delusion. They
again reflect if Mormonism is really
such a dreadful delusion, and if a
plurality of wives is, indeed, so sinful
and unscriptural, why are not some
candid arguments — some scriptural
evidences forthcoming to convince
the judgment and enlighten the mind,
and to show the nature of the delu-
sion, and why, and wherein it is a
delusion ? Why, say they, are all
these denunciations heaped upon the
Latter-Day Saints without one logi-
cal argument, or scriptural evidence
to sustain them ?
If editors and ministers wish to put
a stop to the rolling of the great
wheels of " Mormonism," we advise
them to try another plan. You have
found that evil epithets and the cry of
Imposture, have been tried in vain.
Such empty trash is becoming stale ;
it is not received as evidence by a
thinking public. They do not gree-
dily swallow it down ; they want
something more substantial. Let
theologians back up their cry of de-
lusion by good sound reasoning — by
evidences from the Word of God.
Let editors and authors, for once,
show themselves men of sense ; let
them, for once, appeal to the law and
testimony, and expose "Mormonism"
scripturally ; let them, for once, prove
to the world that the doctrines of the
Latter Day Saints are false ; let them
show from the Word of God that a plu-
rality of wives is sinful or unscriptu-
ral. If they will, for once, adopt this
plan, they will find that it will have
more weight in the minds of an intel-
ligent thinking public, than all the
ridicule, vile reproaches, and popular
denunciations, that the devil can in-
CELESTML MARRIAGE.
77
vent. Try it and see. If you will
prove "•Mormonism" to be a delusion;
if you will show by the Word of God
that a plurality of wives is not sanc-
tioned under the gospel as it was un-
der former dispensations, you will
greatly enlighten the minds of the
people of Utah. Think not that the
descendants of the pilgrim fathers —
the intelligent sons and daughters of i
the New England States — the citi-
zens of this great Republic, educated
under the salutary influence of Ame-
rican institutions, who now dwell in
exile in the Mountain Territory, are
so lost in the depths of barbarism — so
engulphed in the fatal vortex of delu-
sion— so impenetrable to sound argu-
ments and logical reasoning — so blind
to the great truths contained in the
Word of God, that they are beyond all
hopes of recovery. At least make the
exertion once; convince them of their
errors of doctrine or errors of prac-
tice. Let missionaries be sent among
them; they shall be treated with the
highest respect; meeting houses shall
be opened to them free of all expense;
the people will turn out by tens of
thousands to hear their strong reason-
ings, and if they are able to prove
" Mormonism" a delusion, they will
convert the great majority of the Ter-
ritory. Here, then, is a splendid field
for missionary enterpiize. But let us
notify you to send men who are not
afraid of the Word of God. Let men
be sent who will make no denuncia-
tions only such as they are able to
prove ; for the inhabitants of Utah
have too much sense to be thus gulled
and duped ; they have too much expe-
rience to believe all that missionaries
and editors say without proof; they
have too much honesty and desire for
the truth to believe a thing to be true
or untrue, because long established
customs and popularity sanction it.
The people of Utah hear and then
judge ; they think for themselves and
do not hire ministers and editors to
think for them. Come, then, you
missionary societies whose bosoms
yearn over the dark and benighted
heathen in foreign climes, awake to
the awful condition of the poor and
outcast Latter Day Saints in your own
land ; send forth your master spirits —
your Calvins — your Luthers — your
Wesleys ; let the thunder of their elo-
quence be heard upon the mountain
tups ; let the vales of Utah be refresh-
ed by their sublime effusions ; let the
hills and mountain gorges re-echo the
glad tidings, till every ear shall hear,
and every heart be penetrated. A
voice is heard from Utah saying,
Come over and help us ; teach us of
our errors ; convince us of our delu-
sions, if we have any ; set us in the
good old paths of ancient Christianity
if we are not already walking there-
in ; take us by the hand and lead us
into the light, if you consider us in
darkness ; prove to us that the Book
of Mormon is an imposition that we
may be justified in rejecting it ; con-
vince us that a plurality of wives is
contrary to the gospel ; let your light
shine upon the mountains and upon
the highest places of the earth, that
Utah may, peradventure, become en-
lightened, at least, that she may be
able to see some of the beauties of
civilized society. The inhabitants of
that dark and benighted land are so
far sunk in the depths of barbarism,
that they will not suffer a public pros-
titute to live in the Territory : an
adulterer or seducer is not considered
fit to live in that barbarous land.
These ornaments of civilized and
Christian nations, do not yet adorn
the cities and towns of Utah. Curs-
ing, swearing, gambling, drunken-
ness, stealing, brother going to law
with brother, fighting, quarrelling,
and such like specimens of civilized
society, have not yet been introduced
to polish and refine the manners of
that deluded, benighted people. Mis-
sionaries, therefore, will have a great
work to perform to reclaim the "Mor-
mons" from all their barbarous and
degrading customs, and polish and
adorn" them with all the beauties of
civilization. But let them not be dis-
couraged ; if they can prove that they
have greater light than the Saints,
they may be assured of success, and
that the people en masse will be con-
verted.
78
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
But "the people of Utah should be
made to obey the laws in order to
avert the calamities of civil war."
We hope that priests and editors will
not martial the whole nation against
tl^em. At least, show them some lit
tie mercy, by first informing them
what laws of God or man they have
broken. Before you blot their names
out from under Heaven, give them
one chance of repentance and refor-
mation by sending wise men, and
judges, and lawyers, to point out to
them what law of the United States
they have violated, or what law of Utah
Territory they have trangressed. If
it be contrary to the laws of the Uni-
ted States for the citizens of Utah to
have a plurality of wives, they are
certainly ignorant of the existence of
such laws. None of the lawyers or
judges who have been sent among
them have ever pretended that the
United States have passed any laws
upon that subject. And as for the
laws of the individual States and other
Territories, Utah is not aware that
she is ameniable to them. Each
State and Territory passes its own
laws to regulate its own domestic re-
lations and internal affairs, and is not
under the jurisdiction of any other.
If Utah has become a transgressor of
any laws to which she is ameniable,
let the judges of the Supreme Court,
appointed for that Territory, take
cognisance of the same, and punish
her citizens by law. This will "avert
the calamities of civil war" which
editors and religious bigots are so
fearful of. We ask the citizens of the
Northern States, if their State laws
authorize them to regulate the policy
of the Southern States in regard to
slavery? Have they the right to say
that the Southern States must and
shall abolish slavery? The State
laws of the North have nothing to do
with the domestic relations of the
South. So it is in regard to Utah ;
she asks not the interference of any
State of this Union to dictate to her
what kind of policy she must adopt
in her legislative enactments ; if she
choose to adopt slavery in her midst,
the organic law of the Territory gives
her the privilege ; if she choose to
practice a plurality of wives, she has
the most unbounded right to do so, un-
til prohibited by law ; if she choose to
pass laws authorizing her citizens to
marry a hundred or seven hundred
wives, it would be a violation of no
law or Constitution of the General
Government. If enthusiasts and reli-
gious bigots are not pleased with the
liberties guaranteed in the great Con-
stitution of this country, let them pe-
tition Congress for a different kind of
government — one that shall combine
the ecclesiastical with the civil pow-
er—one that shall incorporate the
holy inquisition for the punishment of
all heretics who dare think or act for
themselves — one that shall issue a
bloody edict for the extermination of
the Latter Day Saints wherever they
can be found : such a government
would be much better adapted to their
wants : such a government would en-
able them to rule over the consci-
ences of men by the sword, the fag-
got, and the fire : such a government
would enable them to effectually de-
molish all delusions and heretical
opinions by physical arguments, in-
stead of mental. O, how beautiful !
how logical ! how powerful in its ap-
plications would such an order of
things be ! Before such irresistable
logic the poor "Mormons" would
stand no chance at all : they would be
overpowered, butchered, roasted alive,
as an unequivocal testimony of their
gross delusions !
But to return again to our subject.
If the plurality of wives once existed
in the Christian Church, why has not
the practice been kept up unto the
present day? Is it not an evidence
that it never existed under the gospel,
from the fact that it has not been
transferred down to our time ? We
reply, that the non-existence of the
practice among Christian nations now,
is no evidence, at all, against its ex-
istence in the early age of Christian-
ity. There is scarcely one feature of
ancient Christianity, that has strug-
gled through the long night of dark-
ness, and reached our day. Where
now are the inspired Apostles such as
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
79
characterized ancient Christianity ?
Where now are the abundance of
Christian Prophets such as once
flourished in the Christian Church?
Where now are the visions, revela-
tions, prophecies, ministry of angels,
the healings, the miracles, and the
power of God that distinguished the
Christian Church while it was on the
earth ? Where has been even the
Christian Church itself, for centuries
and ages past? It has been nowhere
upon the earth. If all the great, and
glorious, and grand characteristics of
Christianity, have ceased — >if the
Christian Church itself, has not been
transferred to our day, how could it
be expected that the plurality of wives
as practiced in that Church, should
survive the general wreck? If the
most important offices, gifts, and bless-
ings of the gospel, perished in the
general apostacy, it would be nothing
strange if some of the customs of the
early Christians should perish also.
After the Church of Christ became
extinct from the earth, the apostates
who were left still continued a form
under the name of a Christian Church;
these changed and altered customs to
suit their own imaginations; forbid-
ding their priests to marry, and in-
troducing celibacy, and nunneries,
and thousands of other foolish whims
and habits that the Christian Church,
while it was on the earth, never
thought of. From these unauthorized
apostates, sprang all the churches of
modern Christendom; all being as
destitute of divine authority as the
idolatrous Hindoos. And through
their traditions, customs, and foolish
imaginations, they have almost en-
tirely irradicated every feature and
custom of ancient Christianity from
the earth.
This great apostacy began to man-
ifest itself in the Christian Church
while the apostles were yet living.
Paul, in speaking of the coming of
Christ, says, "Let no man deceive
you by any means : for that day shall
not come, except there come a falling
away first." (2 Thess. 5: 3.) And
again, he says, "for the mystery of
iniquity doth already work." (Verse
7.) The apostate churches of latter
times were to be " without natural
affection," " having a form of godli-
ness, but denying the power thereof,"
"giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils; speaking lies in
hypocracy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron; jorbidding to
marry;" " waxing worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived;"
"through coveteousness, with feigned
words, making merchandise of the
people" " turning their ears away
from the truth, and turning them un-
to fables." " Forbidding to marry"
was one of the grand evils of the
apostacy; it was classified with the
" doctrines of devils;'' it was one
of the most effectual doctrines that
the devil could invent to uproot the
foundations of society; to deprive the
people of God of their promised herit-
age of children; to thwart the pur-
poses of the Almighty in peopling the
earth with its full measure of inhabi-
tants; to cut off the glory promised to
the faithful through the continuance
of their posterity; to reduce mankind
to the same woful condition, as the
fallen angels themselves, who have
no power to increase their dominions
by a multiplication of their species.
The devil and his angels, having
forfeited, in their first estate, all right
to enter a second with bodies of flesh
and bones, and having lost the privil-
ege of marrying and propagating their
species, feel maliciously wicked and
envious against the sons of men who
kept their first estate and are now in
the enjoyment of the second, marry-
ing and increasing their families or
kingdoms. These arch seducers
know full well the blessings which
they have lost, and which they see
mankind in possession of, namely, the
blessings of wives and children.
Could they seduce mankind and for-
bid them to marry, it would greatly
gratify their hellish revenge; for they
know that all such would lose their
promised glory, being left wifeless
and childless like themselves, without
any possible means of reigning over
an endless increase of posterity.
The devils, knowing the eternal
80
CONTENTS.
ruin which would necessarily come
upon mankind could they be persuad-
ed to abolish marriage, used every
art of seduction to accomplish their
evil designs. When they could not
succeed in one way they would try
another ; if they could not persuade
all the church to forsake the practice
of marriage, they would then try their
skill upon the apostate priesthood, en-
deavoring to enforce them into a life
of perpetual celibacy. The devils
soon succeeded in getting laws enact-
ed, forbidding the Priests to marry.
Nunneries were also built in which
females were immured for life, and
thus prevented from fulfilling the
great and first command to multiply
their species. The next great object
with the Devil was, to unite this
apostate church and priesthood with
the civil power ; this he soon accom-
plished : he now found himself armed
with double facilities. What he
could not before fully accomplish
with the ecclesiastical tribunals, he
could now perform through the enact-
ments of the civil powers. He had
already succeeded in abolishing mar-
riage among Priests and Nuns, and
the next step was to forbid the plu-
rality of wives — that divine institu-
tion which had, in all previous ages
of the world, been so successful
among holy Patriarchs, Prophets, and
righteous men in greatly multiplying
the people of God, and spreading
them abroad like the sands of the
seashore. Could he persuade the
ecclesiastical and civil powers to
unitedly attack this holy institution,
and utterly abolish it in church and
State, it would greatly satiate his re-
vengeful feelings ; for he recollected
well how much harm Abraham,
Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Elkanah,
David, and numerous other old Po-
lygamists had done to his kingdom.
God had declared himself to be the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, and had pro-
mised to bless the children of their
numerous wives and multiply them
like the dust of the earth. And
Christ too, the greatest enemy which
the Devil had, was so well pleased
with this divine institution that he
chose to come into the world through
the lineage of a long list of Jewish
and Patriarchal Polygamists. The
Devil, therefore, thought to vent his
spite at this holy order, and if possi.
ble entirely irradicate it from the
earth. Through the influence of
Apostate Christendom several na-
tions have actually been persuaded,
to assist the Devil in his malicious
warfare against this divine system :
they have actually passed laws pro-
hibiting it in their midst. Thus that
order of plurality by which the twelve
tribes of Israel were founded, and
from which the Messiah, according
to the flesh, came ; that order which
multiplied the chosen seed as the
stars of Heaven, and in which all na-
tions should be blessed ; that order
by which the childless dead could
have his name perpetuated to endless
generations ; that holy divine order
has been overturned and abolished
by human enactments and by human
authority. Let Apostate Christen-
dom blush at her sacriligious deeds !
let her be ashamed of her narrow,
contracted bigoted laws !
(To be continued.)
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 65
Celestial Marriage 73
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published bt Orsow Pratt,
at $ 1 per annum, invariably in advance.
£,*>
All ye inhabitant* of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
JUNE, 1853.
No. 6.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
( Conlinwed.)
62. If man before the fall harl no
knowledge of misery, it is evident
that he also must have been ignorant
of the nature of happiness; for al-
though placed in circumstances where
there is no misery, yet he does not
realize that this condition is a condi-
tion of happiness : no one could ex-
plain to him the nature of happiness :
the idea of happiness never could
enter his mind until he could form an
idea of a state or condition of an op.
posite nature. If we should conceive
of a being placed in circumstances
where a continuous stream of light
shone upon him, whose intensity
never varied — if we should conceive
him as never closing his eyes upon
this light, it would be impossible for
him to know the nature of darkness ;
and it would be equally impossible
for him to form any idea that he was
enjoying light : light could not be ex-
plained to him, as something opposite
to darkness ; and though he should
dwell in that light eternally, he
never could appreciate it ; he could
not contrast his condition in the light
with the condition of another in
darkness ; for he would have no idea
what darkness was : in order to un-
derstand the difference between light
and darkness, and appreciate the
blessings of the one, contrasted with
the disagreeableness of the other, he
must experience the two opposite
states. So likewise, in reference to
the idea of happiness ; in order to de-
termine in his own mind what happi-
ness is, he must be able to contrast
it with misery, but if he has no idea
of misery, he could not make the con-
trast, and consequently he could form
no idea in his own mind that his state
was a state of happiness. The word
happiness would be a vague term of
which he could form no idea of the
meaning. Hence, the state of our
first parents before the fall must have
been a kind of neutral state, having
no knowledge of happiness or misery,
neither enjoying the one nor suffering
the other, not appreciating their con-
dition, for they could not contrast it
with any opposite condition. It was
necessary, therefore, for them to ex-
perience pain or misery, that they
might discern and appreciate happi-
ness.
63. The Lord being perfect in
goodness, could not, consistently with
this great attribute of His nature, in-
flict pain or misery upon innocent
beings, like our first parents. If he
had made them subject to pain, his
work could not have been pronounced
very good : and if he had inflicted
pain upon them while in their inno-
cent state, all the Heavens would
have considered Him unjust and im-
peached his goodness. Pain or mis-
ery must be the result of transgres-
82
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
sion, All pain in the universe origi-
nated in transgression. But our first
parents, while innocent, knew neither
good nor evil : they knew that God
had given a law in regard to the fruit
of a certain tree which they were told
was "the tree of knowledge of good
and evil." The mere name of this
tree gave them no idea of the nature
of either good or evil. They knew
that God had given them a command
not to eat of the fruit ; but they did
not know that obedience to this law
was good, and that disobedience to it
was evil. If they had been told that
to obey the law was good, and that to
disobey it was evil, they could not
have understood the terms; good and
evil were words without meaning to
them. It was true, they were told of
the penalty which should be inflicted
upon them if they transgressed the
law. But they could form no idea of
the nature of death, so far as the sen-
sation was concerned ; and therefore
they stood in no fear of death. If
God had seen proper to have told them
before the fall, that death would be
a dissolution of body and spirit, that
their bodies would return to dust, and
that their spirits would be miserable,
yet they could not have understood
that such a state of things would be
misery ; they could have formed no
idea of the evils of death, or that it
would be of any disadvantage to them
to have their bodies and spirits sepa-
rated. To stand in fear of a penalty
would indicate that the being who
thus feared, must have some idea of
misery,; but. as our first parents knew
no misery, because they knew no
evil, it was impossible for them to
have any fears in regard to the con-
sequences resulting from disobedi-
ence. Hence they were agents or
subjects, capable of being enticed to
disobey the law without any fear.
They had never been frowned upon
by their Father, therefore they could
not conceive the nature of a frown.
All their acts, prior to knowing good
and evil, must have been, to a certain
extent, without any merit or demerit.
If they had done any acts which
would have been considered good, if
performed by beings who knew gooc7f
yet, because of their ignorance of the
nature of good, such acts would not
be considered either good or bad.
Therefore, they, while in this state
of ignorance, could do no good, for they
knew not the nature of good : neither
could they learn the nature of good
without transgressing the law, and
thus learning the nature of evil ; then,
and not till then, they would learn by
experience, that one species of acts
were good, and that another species
were evil.
64. Without a knowledge of good
and evil, of happiness and misery,
they could have no conception of jus-
tice and mercy. A sense of justice
implies not only a knowledge of what
is right and wrong, but a knowledge
of the penalty which should be in-
flicted upon the evil doer. An under-
standing of the nature of mercy im-
plies an understanding of justice; and
without a knowledge of the latter, no
conceptions could be formed of the
nature of the former. Our first pa-
rents, in this state, had never seen
any one suffering the demands of jus-
tice under the penalty of a broken
law ; they never had seen mercy of-
fered to a being in such a condition.
Justice and mercy would be words to
them without a meaning : the ideas of
their nature could not, in their inno-
cent state, enter into their hearts.
Language would be altogether inade-
quate to give them the least notion
of these qualities; they could only be
learned by tasting good and evil ; by
partaking of happiness and misery.
65. Love and hatred must have
been sensations unknown prior to the
knowledge of good and evil. Hatred
is excited by something possessing
disagreeable qualities ; but, as all
things were very good, there was
nothing calculated to excite this pas-
sion : no evil qualities were, as yet,
discerned by them : such sensations
could not be produced in them, with-
out inflicting more or less pain ; but
the sensation of pain could not be
awakened without doing evil; there-
fore, it was impossible for them to
have the sensation of hatred before
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
83
knowing evil. But a being who has I gal love could exist between the two
no knowledge of hatred can have no
knowledge of Love ; for love being
the opposite of hatred, can only be
understood by contrast. In order to
love, a being must perceive some-
thing good in the object loved, but as
Adam had no idea of good, he could
not love anything because it possessed
the quality of goodness, and there-
fore, he could not form any idea of
the nature of love. Love and hatred,
then, are sensations derived from the
knowledge of good and evil.
66. If the knowledge of good and
evil, of happiness and misery, of jus-
tice and mercy, cf love and hatred,
had no place in the minds of our first
parents, prior to the fall, it is evident
that they were totally deficient of the
qualities necessary to the enjoyment
of the society of beings of a superior
order; they were totally unqualified
io converse, and reason, and associ-
ate with any degree of satisfaction
with beings who were in the posses-
sion of all this knowledge ; they were
totally inadequate to hold any power
or authority among those who knew
.good and evil ; they were entirely
unqualified to sit in judgment upon
sexes, when they had no knowledge
of good or evil, of joy or misery.
That feeling of joy which now exists
between husband and wife, they must
have been strangers to. It is also
extremely doubtful, whether they, in
their state of ignorance, could propa-
gate a mortal species. Shame or
modesty was something that they had
no idea of; hence, we read that,
" They were both naked, the man and
his wife, and were not ashamed."
(Gen. 2: 25.) They, being im-
mortal, and having no blood flowing
within their systems, and being desti-
tute of the idea of love and hatred, of
sexual affection, and of every princi-
ple resulting from a knowledge of good
and evil, were unqualified, as yet, to
fulfil that great commad, to " Be fruit-
ful, and multiply and replenish the
earth;" (Gen. 1 : 28;) providing that
the command had reference to a
mortal posterity of flesh and bones.
Flesh and bones are made out of blood,
and without blood flesh and bones
could not be begotten and born ; now,
as blood is the natural life, and con-
tains within itself mortality and death,
it is evident that Adam and Eve had
transgressors — >to discern the nature I not that mortal fluid flowing within
of crime — to punish the guilty — to
show mercy to the afflicted — to love
good and hate evil : for the want of
experimental knowledge they could
not, for a moment, have been entrust-
ed with the exercise of any of these
important functions. And thus we
perceive, as we have already stated
in a former paragraph, that there are
certain truths which could only be
learned by experience ; while there
are other truths which can be ac-
quired by reason, reflection, observa-
tion, and revelation. But experimen-
tal truths are just as necessary as
those acquired by a different process.
67. Thus we see that the knowl-
edge of our first parents was ex-
tremely limited. Though the Lord
had formed Eve and brought her to
Adam, yet it is extremely doubtful
whether, in their innocent state, they
could love or hate each other. It is
difficult for us to conceive how conju-
their immortal systems ; and yet with-
out blood, they never could have begot-
ten children ot flesh and bones. If it
were the design of the Almight}', that
man, in his second estate, should be-
get bodies or tabernacles only, and
not spirits, then it was impossible for
them to fulfil that design until after
the fall. The spirits were already
begotten in heaven ; these spirits re-
quired tabernacles ; it may have been
the the duty of man in this world to
beget these tabernacles, that innocent
spirits from the spirit world might
take up their abode in them. This
work man, in this world, could not do,
unless blood circulated within his ar-
teries and veins. Now, the Lord
could not, consistently with his good-
ness, organize blood within the sys-
tem of man, and thus subject him to
death. He therefore made him im-
mortal, by organizing, in connection
with his flesh and bones, an immortal
84
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
fluid of a more refined nature than
that of blood — a fluid of spirit.
68. In order that man might have
the exceedingly great privilege grant-
ed to him of knowing good and evil,
happiness and misery, justice and
mercy, love and hatred, of multiplying
and replenishing the earth, with
bodies or tabernacles for the spirits —
the Lord formed the tree of know-
ledge, and so constructed its fruit, that
if taken in the system, it would de-
stroy the immortality thereof, and
cause blood to usurp the place of the
spiritual fluid, and thus, by our first
parents, partaking of the tree, they
would place themselves in a condi-
tion to propagate their species, or in
other words, bodies of flesh. But
did the Lord command them to eat of
this fruit? No: such a command
would have been inconsistant with
His goodness. It was perfectly con-
sistant with His attributes to make
the tree : it was perfectly right that
he should plant it in the midst of the
garden, where Adam and his wife
could not fail to behold it, as they
passed to and fro eating of the vari-
ous fruits with which the garden
abounded. But knowing that the
fruit contained mortality and death
within it, he did not feel justified to
let Adam and Eve partake of it with-
out giving them a warning of the
consequences which would follow.
The Heavens would have considered
the Lord unjust, inasmuch as He had
made the tree and placed it within
the reach of man, if He had neglect-
ed to caution him not eat of it.
Therefore, the Lord gave a strict
command that our first parents should
not eat of the fruit, telling them that
they should surely die, if they did
partake of it. The Lord, having a
fore-knowledge of all things, knew
that Adam and Eve would, because
of their great ignorance, be easily
enticed to disobey this command-
ment, he, therefore, suffered Satan to
enter into the body of a certain beast,
called a serpent, and to speak through
the serpent and entice our first pa-
rents to eat the forbidden fruit. —
(See Joseph Smith's inspired trans-
lation of the third chap, of Gen.)
They yielded to the temptation : the
Lord now could inflict upon them
pain, and misery, and death, and still
be just; for they had disobeyed his-
command. They were now made
mortal by their own acts. Blood
now flowed within their systems, and
they had placed themselves in a con-
dition to " multiply and replenish the
earth" with a mortal posterity. Al-
though the command was given be-
fore tne fall for man to multiply, yet
the Lord very well knew that man
could not fulfil this command, so far
as mortality was concerned, until he
should through his own act, acquire
a knowledge of good and evil, and in-
troduce a change into his own sys-
tem adapted to that end. Therefore?
the first great command was given
according to the fore-knowledge of
God in relation to the fall, knowing
that man would suffer the penalties
of eating the forbidden fruit, and
knowing that while under that pen-
alty he would be prepared to beget a
fleshly offspring. From all the cir-
cumstances, it appears plain to us,
that the Lord never intended our first
parents to multiply mortal taber-
nacles until after they should, by
their own acts, gain a knowledge of
good and evil, and be prepared to
govern children, according to the
principles of justice and mercy, and
the nature of right and wrong. It
would seem too, that the command to
multiply was given to all the children
of men both male and female on the
sixth day; and as Adam and Eve
were not formed temporally until the
seventh day, the command must have
been given while they were in the
spirit world, and it is not at all likely
that they remembered the command
after entering their tabernacles. In
the book of Abraham, the Lord has
not told us that he gave a positive
command for man to multiply ; but
while counselling upon the subject
on the sixth day, " The Gods said,
we will cause them to be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the
earth." This was not a command,
but merely a declaration what the
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
85
'Gods would do. " We will cause
them to be fruitful," &c. Now we
have already seen what plan was
adopted to cause them to multiply;
it was by placing before them "the
tree of knowledge," that they, through
the exercise of their own agency,
might be endowed with the requisite
qualifications not only to bring forth
mortal children, but to govern them
according to the laws of good and
evil.
69. That our first parents would
have had no mortal children if they
had not partaken of the forbidden
fruit, is not only reasonable, but it is
clearly revealed in the Book of Mor-
mon. The prophet Lehi says, " If
Adam had not transgressed, he would
not have fallen ; but he would have
remained in the garden of Eden. And
all things which were created, must
have remained in the same state
which they were, after they were
created; and they must have remain-
ed forever, and had no end. And
they would have, had no children ;
wherefore, they would have remain-
ed in a state of innocence, having no
joy, for they knew no misery; doing
no good, for they knew no sin. But
behold, all things have been done in
the wisdom of Him who knoweth all
things. Adam fell that men might
be ; and men are that they might have
joy." (2 Book of Nephi, 1st chap,
page 58.) The same doctrine is also
revealed in the inspired translation of
the Book of Genesis. "And Adam
called upon the name of the Lord, and
Eve also, his wife, and they heard
the voice of the Lord from the way
towards the garden of Eden, speaking
unto them, and they saw Him not,
for they were shut out from his pre-
sence. And He gave unto them com-
I know not, save the Lord command-
ed me. And then the Angel spake,
saying, This thing is a similitude of
the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of
the Father, which is full of grace and
truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all
that thou doest in the name of the
Son, and thou shalt repent, and call
upon God in the name of the Son for
evermore.
And in that day the Holy Ghost fell
upon Adam, which bore record of the
Father and the Son, saying, I am Je-
sus Christ from the beginning, hence-
forth and forever, that as thou hast
fallen, thou mayest be redeemed ;
and all mankind, even as many as
will.
And in that day Adam blessed God,
and was filled, and began to prophesy,
concerning all the families of the
earth : blessed be the name of God
for my transgression, for in this life I
shall have joy, and again in my flesh
I shall see God.
And Eve, his wife, heard all these
things, and was glad, saying, were it
not for our transgression, WE
SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD
SEED, and should never have known
good and evil, and the joy of our re-
demption, and the eternal life which
God giveth unto all the obedient. And
Adam and Eve blessed the name of
God ; and they made all things known
unto their sons and their daughters."
70. The prophet Enoch also re-
veals the same doctrine in his cele-
brated discourse on the subject of the
gospel, as revealed to Adam after he
was driven out from the garden of
Eden. " And Enoch continued his
speech, saying, Ttie Lord which
spake with me, the same is the God
of Heaven, and He is my God and
your God, and ye are my brethren;
and why counsel ye yourselves, and
mandment, that they should worship
the Lord their God, and should offer j deny the God of Heaven ?
the firstlings of their flocks, for an] The heavens hath He made: the
offering unto the Lord. And Adam! earth is His footstool, and the founda-
was obedient unto the commandments tion thereof is his : behold He hath
of the Lord. laid it; an host of men hath He
And after many days an angel of brought in upon the face thereof,
the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying And death hath come upon our fathers:
Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto nevertheless we know them, and can-
theLord? And Adam said unto him, not deny; and even the first of all
86
THE PRE-EXFSTENGT2 OF MAN1.
we know, even Adam. For a book
of remembrance we have written
among us, according to the pattern
given by the finger of God : and it is
given in our own language.
And as Enoch spake forth the words
of God, the people trembled, and
could not stand before bis presence :
and he said unto them, BECAUSE
THAT ADAM FELL WE ARE:
and by his fall came death ; and we
are made partakers of misery and
wne. Behold Satan hath come j
among the children of men, and
tempteth them to worship him: and
men have become carnal, sensual,
and devlish, and are shut out from the
presence of God. But God hath
made known unto my fathers, that all
men must repent.
And He called upon our father
Adam by his own voice, saying, I am
God : I made the world, and men be-
fore they were. And He also said
unto him, If thou wilt turn unto me,
and hearken unto my voice, and be.
lieve, and repent of all thy trans-
gressions, and be baptized even by
water, in the name of mine Only
Begotten Son, which is full of grace
and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the
only name which shall be given un-
der Heaven, whereby salvation shall
come unto the children of men ; ye
shall ask all things in His name, and
whatever ye shall ask, it shall be
given.
And our father Adam spake unto
the Lord, and said, Why is it that
men must repent and be baptized by
water? And the Lord said unto
Adam, Behold I have forgiven thee
thy transgressions in the garden of
Eden. Thence came the saying
abroad among the people, That Christ
hath atoned for original guilt, wherein
the sins of the parents cannot be an-
swered upon the heads of the chil-
dren, for they are whole from the
foundation of the world.
And the Lord spake unto Adam,
saying, Inasmuch as thy children are
conceived in sin, even so when they
begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in
their hearts, and they taste the bit-
ter, that they may know to prize the
good. And it rs given unto them tv
know good from evil : wherefore, they
are agents unto themselves, and f
have given unto you another law and
commandment : wherefore teach it
unto your children, that all men,
everywhere, must repent, or they can
in no wise inherit the kingdom of
God ; for no unclean thing can dwell
there, or dwell in His presence ; for
in the language of Adam, Man of
Holines* is His name ; and the name
of His Only Begotten, is the Son oi
Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous
Judge which shall come.
I give unto ycu a commandment to-
teach these things freely unto your
child ren, saying, That, inasmuch as
they were horn into the world by the-
fall which bringeth death, by Water,
and Blood, and the Spirit which I
have made, and so become &f dust a
living soul, even so, ye must he born
again of Water, and the Spirit, and
cleansed by blood, even the blood of
mine Only Begotten, into the myste-
ries of the kingdom of Heaven ; that
ye may be sanctified from all sin, and
enjoy the words of eternal life in
this world, and eternal life in the
world to come, even immortal glory i
for by the water ye keep the com-
mandment; by the Spirit ye are jus-
tified ; and by the blood ye are sanc-
tified, that in you is given the Record
of Heaven — the Comforter — the
Peaeable Things of immortal
glory — the Truth of all things — that
which quickeneth all things, which
maketh alive all things — that which
knoweth all things, and hath all
power, according to wisdom, mercy,
truth, justice, and judgment.
And now, behold, I say unto you?
this is the plan of salvation unto all
men : the Biood of mine Only Begot*
ten which shall come in the meridian
of time. And behold, all things have
their likeness, and all things are cre-
ated and made to bear record of me,
both things which are temporal, and
things which are spiritual; things
which are in the heavens above,
and things which are on the earth ;
and things which are in the earth,
and things which are under th&
THE PRE-EXISTEXCE OP MAN.
87
earth, both above and beneath: all
things bear record of me.
And it came to pass, when the
Lord had spoken with Adam, our
father, that Adam cried unto the Lord,
and he was caught away by the
Spirit of the Lord, and was carried
down into the water, and was laid
•under the water, and was brought forth
out of the water: and thus he was bap-
tized, and the Spirit of God descend-
ed upon him: and thus he was bom
of the Spirit, and he became quicken-
ed in the inner man : and he heard
a voice out of Heaven, saying, Thou
art baptized with fire, and with the
Holy Ghost. This is the Record of
the Father, and the Son, from hence-
forth and tor ever. And thou art
after the order of Him who was with-
out beginning of days or end of years,
from all eternity. Behold, thou art
one in me — a son of God ; and thus
may all become my sons, Amen."*
71. From all these quotations we
learn, that if it had not been for the
fall of our first parents, they never
could have had mortal children. Eve
said, "Were it not for our transgres-
sion, we should never have had seed."
Enoch said, "Because that Adam fell
we are." Lehi said, "Adam fell that
men might be." The Lord said to
Adam: — "Inasmuch as thy children
are conceived in sin, even so, when
they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth
in their hearts." And again, the
Lord said in relation to these chil-
dren, " They were born into the
world by the fall which bringeth
death, by Water, and Blood, and the
Spirit whith I have made, and so be-
come of dust a living soul." The
" Water and Blood," properly united,
form the flesh and bones of an in-
fant ; the spirit from Heaven, uniting
with the " Water and Blood," ani-
mates the body, and thus it becomes
"of dust a living soul."
72. Adam said, " Blessed be the
name of God for my transgression,
for in this life I shall have joy, and
* Revealed to Joseph, the Seer, Dec.
1830, as a part of the Inspired Translation
of the Book of Genesis.
again in my flesh I shall see God.
And Eve, his wife, heard all these
things and was glad, saying, were it
not for our transgression, we should
never have had seed, and should
never have known good and evil, and
the joy of our redemption, and the
eternal life which God giveth unto
all the obedient." How great rea-
son had our first parents to bless and
praise God that he had made and
placed the tree of knowledge in a
position where they could eat of it;
for though they brought upon them-
selves the penalty of their disobedi-
ence and were placed, with their
posterity, in a state of suffering, yet
it was far better for them to endure
the suffering, and even to die, than
to have remained in the state that
they were in before the fall. Indeed,
it would have been better for them
to have suffered a hundred-fold more
than what they did, than to have al-
ways remained in a state of profound
ignorance of good and evil — than to
have forever been in a state incapa-
ble of knowing or appreciating joy or
happiness — a state, wherein the idea
of justice and mercy could never have
entered into their hearts. It was not
the design of the Lord that man
should remain in such depths of ig-
norance. Well might Adam and
Eve bless God for their transgres-
sion ; for all the sufferings that they
endured in consequence of it were
not worthy to be compared with the
infinitely important knowledge gain-
ed, and the joys which flowed through
that knowledge. Christ was consid-
ered, as a " Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world," to atone for
the original sin of Adam. There-
fore, by his transgression, he obtain-
ed knowledge indispensably neces-
sary to his exaltation and happiness;
and by the atonement his sin was
forgiven, and he restored to the favor
of God, possessing the requisite
qualifications to enjoy his redemp-
tion, and the society of beings who
knew good and evil. "The Lord
God said, Behold the man is be-
come as one of us, to know good and
evil." (Gen. 3 : 22) God and the
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
heavenly host had attained to the
knowledge of good and evil, and
therefore they were capable of en-
joying happiness and judging right-
eously according to the principles
of right and wrong, justice and
mercy. Adam, by his transgres-
sion, had become like one of the
Gods to know good and evil. Now
can it be supposed, for a moment,
that the Lord did not wish Adam
to become like himself? Was He
hot desirous that he should learn
how to distinguish between that which
was good, and that which was evil ?
Or did He design that man should
forever be deprived of that informa-
tion which alone could give him joy ?
Was not the only Begotten Son will-
ing, even before the world was made,
to be sent forth in the meridian of
time to suffer and die, in order to
atone for a tiansgression which would
place Adam in the same condition as
the Gods in respect to good and evil?
The Son did not consider death to be
too great a sacrifice, in order that man
might be raised from the very depths
of ignorance and be placed on an
equal footing with the Gods, as far as
it regards good and evil and all their
accompanying consequences.
73. It is true, if the Saviour had
not proposed to die to atone for Adam's
sin, then there would have been no
way of forgiveness; and justice would
have consigned Adam to endless
misery and banishment from the pre-
sence of his Father, without any hopes
of the resurrection of his body, or a
redemption of his spirit from the
power of the Devil: hence, if God
had not contrived a plan of redemption
it would have been better for Adam
riot to have fallen; it would have been
better for him to have remained in
profound ignorance of good and evil,
happiness and misery, than to have
been miserable forever, like the fal-
len angels. But God having devised
a plan of Redemption, it was far bet-
ter for Adam to transgress and suffer
the penalties of that transgression for
a season, than to remain in a state,
wherein he could never know good
and evil, like the Gods — wherein he
could never appreciate the happiness
of heaven, or know the joys of eter-
nal life — wherein he could not under-
stand the nature of justice and mercy,
of right and wrong — wherein he could
never be entrusted with any author-
ity, or power, or rule over beings
who were in possession of this super-
ior knowledge? — and wherein he could
never have had children, and there-
fore, the great family of spirits in
Heaven would have been disappoint-
ed in their anxious longing expecta-
tions to receive bodies. Therefore,
I lift up my heart in praise and thanks-
giving before the Lord; yea, I bless
God with all my soul, that our first
parents did transgress, and bring suf-
fering, and misery, and death upon
the world ; for, because of this trans-
gression my spirit has been permitted
to come from heaven and enter a ta-
bernacle of flesh and bones — because
of this transgression, I am permitted
to know, in this life, good and evil,
joy and misery, justice and mercy, love
and hatred — because of this trans-
gression, I learn by experience things
which I never could have learned in
any other way — because of this trans-
gression, I shall know and appreciate
the joys of my redemption ; I shall
enjoy the words of eternal life in this
world, and the fulness of eternal life
in the world to come.
74. There was another tree in the
garden of Eden whose fruit possessed
qualities of an opposite nature to that
of the tree of knowledge. It was
called "the Tree of Life." This tree
was calculated to produce endless
life ; it would change mortality into
immortality, as may be seen from the
following passages : — "And the Lord
said, Behold the man is become as one
of us, to know good and evil ; and
now, lest he put forth his hand and
take also of the tree of life, and eat,
and live forever : therefore the Lord
God sent him forth from the garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence
he was taken. So He drove out
the man ; and He placed at the east
of the garden of Eden Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned,
every way, to keep the way of the
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
89
tree of life." (Gen. 3: 22—24.) If
our first parents, after having trans-
gressed, and become subject to death,
had been permitted to eat of that, the
consequences would have been of the
most fearful nature, and thev would
have been ruined forever. The act
would not only have affected man, but
it would have affected God; His word
would have been void, for the sen-
tence of death had already passed,
and they were told that they should
"surely die." The fruit of the Tree
of Life would have caused them to
live forever, and God's word would
have failed: not only so, but they
would have lived forever in misery;
for the plan of salvation which was
to be brought about by the shedding
of blood or by the death of the Sa-
viour, would have been frustrated. If
Adam had placed himself in a condi-
tion that he could not die, his children
would have been placed in the same
condition also ; (that is, providing
that it was possible for him to have
begotten children of flesh and bones
under such circumstances ;) hence,
the Messiah, according to the flesh,
could not have died: forasmuch as all
the children would have been immor-
tal, His fleshly body would have been
immortal also and without blood; thus,
there could have been no atonement
by the shedding of blood. Therefore,
man would have remained in his fal-
len state forever, being subject to the
Devil who had overcome him, being
dead spiritually without any possibility
or hopes of recovery, being miserable
forever like the fallen angels. It is
very doubtful, whether our first par-
ents, if they had partaken of the tree
of life after the fall, could have brought
forth children of flesh and bones; f«»r
blood which is essential to the organ-
ization of fleshly bodies, would have
been irradicated from their systems.
Therefore, the Lord, knowing the
evil consequences which would follow,
if they partook of the Tree of Life,
carefully guarded the same by Cher-
ubims and a flaming sword.
{To be continued.)
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
{Continued.)
inhabitants of the earth in the same
way that He did the first pair, but
If the plurality of wives be a Di-
vine institution, why did not the Lord
make more than one female for
Adam ? Because one was sufficient
to commence the work of peopling
this creation. The Lord generally
His wisdom dictated their formation
by another law. He had power to
have formed a great number of fe-
males for Adam, but His wisdom
accomplishes His work through pre- ! dictated the formation of only one as
scribed and fixed laws. The law
of generation is the fixed and estab-
lished method by which males and
females have been organized out of
the dust, during the last six thousand
years. Before this law could take
effect, it was necessary that the im-
mortal bodies of the first pair should
be formed in a different manner from
that of the mortal bodies of their off-
spring. The first pair being formed
by the immediate agency of the Al-
mighty, all others could be formed
through the general and fixed laws of
generation.
God had power to have formed all the
being sufficient to commence the
great work of the multiplication of the
human species.
But does not Jesus, when refering
to the union of Adam and Eve, as one
flesh, convey the idea that no man
was to have more than one wife ?
No: Jesus was speaking of the Jew-
ish nation, who had been accustomed
to give bills of divorcement and put
away their wives; He was showing
them that Moses suffered such bills
to be given, because of the hardness
of their hearts ; "but from the begin-
ning it was not so." He told them
that it was unlawful for them to put
90
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
away their wives except for the cause
of fornication. He "said unto them,
Have ye not read, that He which
made them at the beginning, made
them male and female, and said. For
this cause shall a man leave father
and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife ; and they twain shall he one
flesh ? Wherefore they are no more
twain but one flesh. What, there-
fore, God hath joined together, let
not man put assunder." (Matthew
19: 4, 6.) Jesus here vindicates the
sicredness and perpetuity of the mar-
riage covenant. He shows that the
husband and wife are no more twain
but one flesh. What are we to un-
derstand by two becoming one flesh ?
Does it mean that the male and fe-
male lose their identity as persons?
By no means. Such a circumstance
never happened in any age of the
world. Does it mean that they be-
come one merely in their thoughts,
affections, and minds? No; it says
they twain shall be one flesh : mark
the expression, " one jiesh" not one
mind. But how can this be possible?
Answer; By the sacred covenant of
marriage, the woman freely and vol-
untarily gives herself to the husband;
she no longer is her own, neither does
she belong to her parents, or to any
one else ; she has surrendered herself
wholly to her husband; she is his
helpmate; his wife; his property;
his flesh, just as much as the flesh of
his own body is his: hence, Paul says,
"So ought men to love their wives as
their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife loveth himself. For no man ever
yet hated his own flesh ; but nourish-
ed and cherisheth it." (Eph. 5: 28,
29.) Although she still maintains her
identity as a distinct personage, yet
she belongs to another, and not to
herself; she is his flesh and his
bones. He, therefore, that will di-
vorce his own flesh and his own
bones, " saving for the cause of for-
nication, causeth her to commit adul-
tery: and whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced, committeth adulte-
ry." (Matthew 5: 32.) Now, a man
that will cause his own wife which
is, by marriage, his own flesh, to com-
mit adultery, will be considered as an
adulterer himself, and will be judged
and condemned with adulterers ; for
in him is the greater sin, because he
compelled his own flesh to commit
adultery, by putting her away. And
if he should marry, after having put
her away, it would be adding sin to
sin; for, after having forced his wife to
commit adultery, he would now actu-
ally commit adultery himself. Hence,
Jesus says, " Whosoever shall put
away his wife, except it be for forni-
cation, and shall marry another, com-
mitteth adultery." (Matthew 19: 9.)
Thus it will be seen, that a man
who unlawfully divorces his wife, al >
though he may remain unmarried,
commits a sin equal to that of adul-
tery, for he "causeth her to commit
adultery;" and if he marry while in
this great transgression, he, of course,
would marry contrary to the will of
God, therefore, God would have no-
thing to do in joining him to another,
consequently his marriage not being
of Divine appointment, would be con-
sidered illegal, and therefore adulter-
ous, like all other marriages wherein
the authority of God is not recognized.
Some may pretend to say that if it
be considered adultery to marry
another, after having unlawfully di-
voiced a wife, then it would be con-
sidered adultery to marry another
without a divorce, having two or more
at the same time. But these two
cases are entirely distinct and differ-
ent in their nature. In the first case,
a man before he marries another is
under great transgression, having un-
lawfully put away his wife and caused
her to commit adultery. While un-
der this great transgression, God will
not suffer him to be made one flesh
with another; and if he marry, he
marries independent of the authority
of Heaven, and therefore commits
adultery. But in the second case, if
he marry anothei when he is not un-
der transgression, through the con-
sent of his first wife, and under the
Divine sanction, and by Divine ap-
pointment and authority, as the holy
Patriarchs and Prophets did, he does
not commit adultery. Neither Jesus
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
91
nor his apostles, have ever represent- [ part of Man ; the marriage ordinance,
ed a person to be an adulterous man I being instituted to restore to man
lor marrying two wives and living that part which was taken from him,
with them, as had been practiced by without which he could not be per-
holy men in all previous ages. Such
a practice was never condemned.
Jesus did not say that Moses suffered
a plurality of wives because of the
hardness of their hearts, and that it
was not so from the beginning. No.
He said directly the reverse. It. was
lect. When the bone or rib, taken
from him, was restored in the form
of a female and wife, he could, with
all propriety, say that they were one
flesh.
That this saying was not only ap-
plicable in the case of the first pair,
for putting away wives, and not for , but to all others who should after-
taking wives, that Jesus condemned j wards be married by divine appoint-
them. This putting away of wives ment, is evident from the declaration
was not only condemned under the' that a man, for this very cause,
Gospel, but it was considered a great should leave father and mother and
evil hundreds of years before Christ, cleave unto his wife, and they should
Hear the testimony of the Prophet be one flesh.
Malachi : "Therefore take heed to I But there is still an additional
your spirit, and let none deal treach- sense wherein the husband and wife
erously against the wife of his youth, become one. They become one
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith J flesh in their children. The flesh of
that He hateth putting away." (Mai. I both father and mother becomes
2: 15, lfi.) [amalgamated in one in each of their
As it was considered a very great ! offspring. Here is a union of the
evil for a husband to put away his | flesh of the father with that of the
wife, so, likewise, it was very sinful ' mother that can never be separated —
for a wife to put away her husband, a union of the flesh of two in one
Jesus says, " If a woman shall put
away her husband, and be married
to another, she committeth adultery."
(Mark 10: 12.)
In addition to the sense already
illustiated, a husband and wife be-
come one flesh in another respect.
They not only become one flesh by
the wife's giving herself wholly to
the husband, but originally the wo-
man was actually made out of the
bone and flesh of Adam. The Lord
in forming a wife for Adam did not
see proper to construct her entirely
out of the ground, but He took one of
Adam's ribs, and, connecting with it
body — a union as perfect as that of
Adam's rib before it. was extracted
from his body — a union that no power
but death can dissolve — a union that
will be eternal after the resurrection.
Hence the husband and wife become
one flesh in their children eternally.
The union of husband and wife,
therefore, should be as inseparable
as their own flesh and bones incor-
porated in their children ; it should
be as eternal as the immortal bodies
of their children after the resurrec-
tion. No wonder, then, that the
Lord "hates putting away:" it is a
violation of the eternal covenant of
the necessary materials, formed a j marriage ; it is the overthrowing of
woman, and brought her to the Man ; the great foundation of eternal king-
this curious circumstance caused
Adam to exclaim, " This is now bone
of my bone, and flesh of my flesh :
she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man. There-
fore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife : and they shall be one flesh."
(Gen. 2: 23, 24.) The Woman,
doms : it is the destruction of an end-
less increase of posterity, and the re-
jection of the grand Patriarchal and
family order of the Heavens ; it is
the severing assunder of that which
God has joined together for eter-
nity — the rending in twain of his
own flesh and his own bones which
God had united to be one forever;
therefore, by creation was originally! and in fine, it is the rejection of the
92
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
Woman — " the glory of the Man'''' —
the only means that God has ordain-
ed for the peopling of Worlds — the
only stepping stone to an endless in-
crease of dominions — the only medi-
um of an endless continuation of irn-
morlal lives. What, therefore, God
has joined together as one flesh, let
no human authority dare put as-
sunder.
But does not the saying, that " they
twain shall be one flesh," indicate
that God did not design more than
two to become one flesh ? No : it
conveys no such idea. Jesus says,
"I and my Father are one." (John
10: 30.) Now this saying did not
prevent others from becoming one
with the Father and Son ; it was
just as possible for three, or four, or
a hundred, or any other number of
his disciples, however great, to be-
come one with Jesus and His Father,
as it was for they twain to be one.
Indeed, Jesus prays to the Father to
make all his disciples one, even as
they were one. Therefore because
a man becomes one flesh with one
wife, it does not prevent him from
becoming one flesh with a second.
When Jacob became one flesh with
Leah, it did not prevent him from
marrying Rachel, and Rilhah, and
Zilpah, and from becoming one flesh
with each of them. Each of the lat-
ter three were as much his as the
first. The flesh of Jacob and Rachel
was incorporated as one in the bodies
of Joseph and Benjamin, as much as
the flesh of Jacob and Leah was in
Judah and Simeon. If it could be
said of Jacob and Leah, that "They
twain shall be one flesh," the same
saying could be applied, with equal
propriety, to Jacob and Rachel — to
Jacob and Bilhah — to Jacob and
Zilpah ; or, if he had been paired
with seven hundred wives, as Solo-
mon was, it would have been equally
applicable to each pair.
In the writings of the New Testa-
ment, we have no particular instan-
ces mentioned of the plurality of
wives, and from this circumstance,
some have supposed that such a
practice did not exist ; but we reply,
that there are several books of the
Old Testament, also, wherein no in-
stances of such a practice, are re-
corded, and yet it is well known that
such an order was in existence.
Therefore, because the writers of
the New Testament have failed to
mention instances, is no evidence
whatever against the continuation of
that divine institution. Why should
some sixteen or eighteen of the in-
spired writers of the Old Testament
be entirely silent in regard to a prac-
tice which existed under their imme-
diate notice ? The silence of the
eight writers of the New Testament
is no more proof against the exist-
ence of the plurality custom under
the Christian dispensation, than the
silence of double that number of
writers, is against its existence un-
der former dispensations.
It is supposed by some, because
the term wife, instead of wives, is
used in the New Testament that no
Christians had more than one. But
no such inference can be justly drawn
on that account. For who does not
know that the greatest majority of
the Old Testament writers, have used
the term wife in the singular number
as well as those under the gospel ?
There were many people under
every dispensation, who had but one
wife; and for this cause, instructions
were most usually given in terms
and language, suited to the general
condition of the people, taken as a
whole. When Moses gave laws con-
cerning domestic relations, he most
generally used the term wife, instead
of wives, knowing that, in the most of
cases, the laws regulating one wife,
would be equally applicable to a plu-
rality. Hence, he uses the singular
number in his instructions in rela-
tion to a divorce: the same language
is used against coveting a neighbor's
wife; and yet these laws were de-
signed to take effect among polygam-
ists, as well as among families prac-
ticing the one wife system. Many
other laws were applicable to both
systems, and yet Moses uses the
singular term instead of the plural.
This same custom continued among
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
93
the writers after Moses; and it was i during the last seventeen centuries,
very seldom that the term wives, in j and the same as He tolerated the
relation to individual families, was law of divorce among the Israelites,
used, unless in regard to some cir- because ofthe hardness of their hearts,
eumstance or event which espec- He has suffered the wicked to marry,
ially required the language to he according to human laws, and human
in the plural. The New Testa- authority in order that mankind might
ment writers, in giving rules and re- not become extinct, the same as he
gulations for the government of fam- i suffered the children of Jacob to sell
ilies, have followed the same custom their younger brother to the Ishmael-
as those who preceeded them, using ites in order that they might not be-
the singular number, considering come extinct by the (amine. There
that what was applicable to one wife j are many things that God permits be-
was, in most of cases, applicable to a cause of the hardness of the hearts of
plurality. This method of expressing mankind, that they will be condemn-
themselves, therefore, is not the least ed for in the day of judgment. Jo-
evidence against the existence of this seph's brethren were condemned for
order of things among Christians, their acts, but God caused good to
Indeed, we know, that if the Jewish ' result therefrom ; this, however, did
nation kept their law in relation to , not clear them from their guilt. So
the childless dead, there must have j it is in regard to those who have ven-
been thousands of polygamists among tured to marry without divine author-
thetn when Christianity was introduc- ; ity, God will cause good to result
ed into their midst. j from the same in the preservation of
The object of marriage, as has been ; the human species upon the earth,
abundantly proved, is to multiply the
human species and instruct them in
every principle of righteousness that
they may become like God, and be one
but the nations of the wicked who
have thus violated that divine institu-
tion, will be cast into hell, and will
lose the blessings and privileges of
with Him, and inherit all the fulness 'the righteous who have married by
of His glory. This being the real ! divine authority. Therefore, the fact
object of marriage, a question natur- 'that God does not join the wicked in
ally arises have the wicked the same i marriage, is an evidence that they have
right to the blessings of a numerous not the same privileges as the right-
posterity, under this divine institution,
as the righteous? We answer, that
they have not. And we shall now
eous in this holy matrimonial ordin-
ance.
Secondly, why does not God appro-
proceed to show from the scriptures j bate the marriages of the wicked
that the Lord has made a great di:
tinction in regard to this thing, be-
tween the wicked and the righteous.
First, We have no example of the
wicked ever being married by divine
equally with the righteous? Because
by their wickedness, they not only
bring damnation upon themselves, but
upon their children also. Tfte chil-
ren seeing the wicked practices of
authority. Where have we an in- j their parents, would be very likely to
stance of this kind? We have abun
dance of instances where the wicked
have been married; but were these
marriages by divine appointment?
Were they joined together of God?
Were the ministers who officiated di-
rected by revelation to join them to-
gether as one flesh ? We have no
instance of the kind in the divine or-
acles. It is true, the scriptures toler-
ate such a practice, the same as God
has tolerated the illegal marriages,
follow their evil footsteps. We see
this most abundantly exemplified, not
only in wicked families, but among
wicked nations. The nations who
forme) ly inhabited the land of Canaan
were unworthy of the ordinance of
marriage or of posterity, because their
children beheld the wicked examples
of their parents and became worse
and worse until their iniquity was
full, when the Lord in order to put a
stop to their unlawful marriages, and
94
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
the multiplication of evil doers, was
compelled to destroy husbands, and
wives, and children to the number
of many millions. Hear what
the Lord said to the children of Israel,
concerning them, " But of the cities
of these people, which the Lord thy
God doth give thee for an inheritance
thou shalt save alive nothing that
breatheth : but thou shalt utterly de-
stroy them ; namely, the Hittites, and
the Amorites, the Canaanites, and
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the
Jebusites ; as the Lord thy God hath
commanded thee ; that they teach you
not to do after all their abominations,
which they have done unto their gods;
so should ye sin against the Lord
your God." (Deut. 20: 16, 17, 18.)
When Abram first came into that land
the Lord told him that their iniquity
was "not yet full." (Gen. 15.) But
some four or five centuries after this,
through the evil practices of their
fathers, the children had become fully
ripened in sin. and had filled up the
measure of their cup. And to pre-
vent the earth from being overrun
with this evil race, and corrupting
Israel with their abominable practices,
it was necessary to utterly destroy
every soul that breathed. Instead of
the Lord's considering these nations
fit to marry He did not consider them
worthy to live or their children either,
Therefore He destroyed them, and
gave their land to His people, and
promised them, on conditions of right-
eousness, that He would greatly bless
their land, and increase their flocks
and herds, and their riches and sub-
stance Moses sa»d unto them "The
Lord shall make thee plenteous in
goods, in the fruit of thy hod;/, and
in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit
of thy ground, in the land which the
Lord sware unto thy fathers to give
thee." (Deut. 28: 11)
Israel, then, because of righteous-
ness was considered worthy to be
blessed with an increase of children,
to be multiplied exceedingly, and be-
come as the sands upon the sea shore
innumerable ; but they were consid-
ered worthy of this blessing only on
conditions o^ righteousness : for if
they turned away from the Lord, they
would be no better qualified to save
their children, than other nations.
Should they forsake righteousness
Moses said that they also should be
visited with every kind of plague and
curse ; and among other calamities
he says, " Ye shall be left few in num-
ber, whereas ye were as the stars of
heaven for multitude." " And it shall
come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced
over you to do you good, and to mid-
tiply you ; so the Lord will rejoice
over you to destroy you, and to bring
you to nought." (Deut. 28 : 62, 63.)
Here then we see, that it is a cause
of rejoicing with the Lord to multiply
the righteous, and to diminish the
wicked. Multiplication, therefore,
was originally only designed for the
righteous ; but the wicked have pre.
sumed to take this blessing to them-
selves, and have thus been the in-
struments in bringing hundreds of
millions into the world which God is
obliged from time to time to cut off
and send to hell in order that the
world may not be brought wholly un-
der their dominion, and the curse de-
vour the whole earth as in the days
of Noah.
The angels who kept not their
first estate are not permitted to mul-
tiply. Why? Because of their
wickedness. If granted this privi-
lege, they would teach their offspring
the same wicked malicious principles
by which they, themselves, are gov-
erned ; they would teach them to
fight against God, and against every
thing else that was good, and great,
and glorious. This would not only
make all their offspring miserable,
but it would greatly enlarge the do-
minions of darkness ; and to prevent
all these great calamities and evils,
God has wisely ordained to withhold
marriage and increase of posterity
entirely from them.
God is angry and displeased with
wicked men and nations, as well as
with the fallen angels, and though he
suffers them to marry and to multiply,
yet He will bring them to judgment
for these things ; and will punish them
Co: bringing posterity into the world
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
95
in all their corruption and wicked-
ness : He will punish them with a
double punishment, not only for their
own evil deeds, but because they
have taught their children the same.
Their children must suffer as well as
they, because their parents ventured
to marry in unrighteousness. They
and their children in all their gene-
rations are preparing themselves for
the society of the fallen angels ; and
with them they will dwell, and like
them, they will be placed in a con-
dition where they can no more be
permitted to multiply. Having once
married in unrighteousness and
brought eternal ruin and misery
upon their seed, the Lord will no
longer suffer them to enlarge their
dominions of wickedness, and entail
unhappiness and wretchedness upon
immortal souls. They have forfeited
all right to wives or the law of
increase, by their abuses of these
things here in this life.
When Noah and his sons were
building the ark all the nations of the
earth were marrying and giving in
marriage, but their marriages were
all illegal and they only multiplied
their posterity to be cut off and to per-
ish out of the earth. God did not
sanction their marriages, neither was
he pleased with them or their chil-
dren. Noah and his sons were the
only persons worthy of wives or
children ; they alone had a divine
right to marry; and they alone had
any legal claim on the Lord in behalf
of their children. The most of the
people in the days of the patriarchs
had turned away from the true God
to the worship of idols, consequently
the marriages of all such were unau-
thorized, and their illegitimate chil-
dren were multiplied upon the earth
to curse the earth with the idolatry of
their fathers. David says that " the
wicked shall be turned into hell, and
all the nations that forget God." Can
we then, for one moment, suppose that
God is pleased with the multiplication
of the wicked ? Does it please God
to have the wicked marry, when, in
so doing, they only increase the num-
ber who must be cast into hell ? Far
be it from us to impute such wicked-
ness to God. That which God re-
quires of the wicked, in the first
place, is, to repent and become right-
eous, and then to marry and multiply
a righteous posterity upon the earth :
and if they will not do this, it would be
far more tolerable for them in the day
of judgment, if they would remain
unmarried, for then they alone would
suffer; but to be the instruments of
bringing their own children to eter-
nal ruin will greatly add to their tor-
ments. Who can, then, for one mo-
ment, believe that the wicked have
equal privileges with the righteous
in the divine institution of marriage?
Who can, with the word of God be-
fore them, believe that the wicked
ought to multiply upon the earth and
raise up candidates for the devil's
kingdom? No person can believe
this, who believes the Bible.
Hear what the prophet Isaiah says,
concerning the children of the wicked:
he declares, "The seed of evildoers
shall never be renowned. Prepare
slaughter for his children, for the
iniquity of their fathers ; that they do
not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill
the face of the world with cities."
(Isa. 14: 20, 21.) Now would it not
be far better for them not to marry
than to be the means of bringing
both temporal and eternal judgments
upon their children S God is certainly
not pleased with their increase, or
else He would not prepare slaughter
for their children to prevent them
from filling the world with cities; if
He were pleased with their increase,
the more cities they filled the better.
The Psalmist, in speaking of both
the righteous and the wicked says,
that "Such as be blessed of Him
shall inherit the earth ; and they that
be cursed of Him shall be cut off."
And again he says, " He (the right*
eous) is ever merciful and lendeth ;
and his seed is blessed. Depart from
evil and do good ; and dwell forever-
more. For the Lord loveth judgment
and forsaketh not his saints : they
are preserved forever : but the seed
of the wicked shall be cut off. The
righteous shall inherit the land and
96
CONTENTS.
dwell therein forever." (Ps. 37.)
Thus we can see what the design of
the Lord is in regard to the seed of i
the wicked : they are to utteily perish
out of the earth. Not so with the
righteous: God has promised that
they shall not only inherit the earth
in this life, but they shall "dwell
therein forever."
In a former part of this treatise, it
was shown that adulterers forfeited
their lives in ancient times, the rea-
son was because they were not con-
sidered worthy of wives or children
to perpetuate their names among the
righteous ; and being unworthy of
these blessings, they were unworthy
of life ; hence, they were commanded
to be destroyed that they might not
transfer their wicked examples to a
risin"- generation. And God was so
displeased with adulterers that He
prohibited their posterity from the en-
joyment of the blessings of His peo-
ple. Hence, it is said, "A bastard
shall not enter into the congregation
of the Lord; even to his tenth gen-
eration shall he not enter inlo the con-
gregation of the Lord." (Deut.
23: 2.)
The Jews, as a nation, were adul-
terers at the time Christianity was
introduced among them. Jesus calls
them an "adulterous generation."
Consequently they had forfeited all
right and title to raise up seed unto
Abraham. They pretended to be
Abraham's seed, but they had forfeited
that title by their wickedness and
adulteries: therefore, "Jesus saith
unto them, if ye were Abraham's
children, ye would do the works ol
Abraham." "Ye are of your father,
the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do." { John, 8: 33, 39, 44.)
Being the chUdren of the devil, they
had forfeited all right to the di-
vine institution of marriage. Instead
of its being pleasing to God for them
to pretend to be Abraham's children
and to multiply and spread forth their
posterity, Jesus said unto them,
"Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not
for me, but weep for yourselves, and
for your children. For, behold, the
days are coming, in the which they
shall say, Blessed are the barren, and
the wombs that never bare, and the
paps lhat never gave suck. Then
shall they begin to say to the moun-
tains, fall on us; and to the hills,
cover us." (Luke 23: 28, 29, 30.)
They had forfeited the blessings of
wives and children, and even of life
itself, because they were an "adulter-
ous generation," and full of all manner
of wickedness. God would sooner
of the very "stones raise up children
unto Abraham," than to have such
wicked characters undertake to marry
and multiply. Who then cannot per-
ceive that God makes a very great
distinction between the wicked and
the righteous in regard to marriage
and the multiplication of the human
species ? Those blessings were
originally intended for the righteous,
and for the righteous only, but the
wicked have stepped forward to their
own condemnation, and claimed the
privileges of the righteous ; bringing
temporal and eternal judgments upon
their generations. Hence, that which
is a blessing to the righteous, will
prove a cursing to the wicked. The
ark of God while it remained among
the righteous brought blessings and
glory, and honor, and great joy; but
when it was taken by the Philistines,
who had no business with it, it brought
cursing, and plague, and desolation,
and death upon their numerous hosts.
So will God punish the wicked for
daring to claim a divine institution,
which was only intended for the
righteous.
(To be continued.)
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man.
Celestial Marriage
81
89
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All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
JULY, 1853.
No. 7.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
( Continued.)
7.3. As the children of Adam were
conceived in sin, and born into the
world by the fall, they became sub-
ject to the same penalty, inflicted upon
Adam, that is, they became subject
to death, as saith the Apostle Paul,
" By one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5 :
12.) Also, in another passage, he
says, "For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive." (1 Cor. 21, 22.) These
passages clearly prove that the sin
of Adam brought death upon all his
posterity. Was it just that all of
Adam's children should suffer death
because of his sin ? Or did death
come upon the children, not because
justice required it, but as a natural
result, following Adam's sin which
could not be avoided ? Misery and
woe are frequently entailed upon
posterity by the wickedness of pa-
rents. Diseases, contracted by the
licentious conduct of parents, become
hereditary, and are transferred to the
children for many generations. Now
the parents who, by their sins,
brought upon themselves misery and
wretchedness, suffer the penalty of
their own doings as a matter of jus-
tice ; they have been unvirtuous and
sinned, justice punishes them with
loathsome painful diseases : these
diseases are inherited by the chil-
dren ; they suffer in body equally with
the parents. No one will pretend to
say, that justice requires the chil-
dren to suffer; that these aggravating
complaints are justly inherited : no
one would, for one moment, suppose
that justice could not be magnified
nor exercise its claims, unless the chil-
dren were afflicted for their parents-
sin. All would, at once, say that the
sufferings of the children were un-
justly inflicted, as a consequence of
the sin of the parents ; a consequence
too, which could not well be avoided.
So likewise, death came into our
world by the transgression of our
parents ; they justly suffered that ca-
lamity ; but death became hereditary .
Adam transferred death to his pos-
terity, not for any sin that they had
committed, but as a consequence of
his own sin. Adam was the means of
their suffering death unjustly, as the
legitimate consequence of his own
sin. Justice, therefore, does not de-
mand that any of the posterity of
Adam should die, because of his sin.
Justice demanded that Adam only
should die. But the posterity of
Adam do suffer death, not because
justice requires it, but because death
is hereditary, and follows as a natu-
ral result of the fall, in the same
manner, as certain diseases are un-
justly inherited by children, as a
98
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
natural result of the licentiousness of
their parents.
76. Adam not only was to receive
a temporal death or a dissolution of
body and spirit, but he became dead
spiritually ; he was banished from
the garden of Eden and from the pre-
sence of the Lord ; he became sub-
ject to the will of the Devil by whom
he had been overcome ; he was dead
as to every thing pertaining to right-
eousness or happiness ; no act of his
could ever atone for his sin ; no plan
that he could devise would ever en-
able him to recover himself from his
lost and fallen state ; no scheme that
he could form would reorganize his
body from the dust and bring it up
from the grave. To dust his body
must return, there, for aught he knew,
to sleep the eternal sleep of death.
No sound of redemption was at first
sounded in his ears; no tidings to
kindle a ray of hope within his breast :
the darkness of despair sat coldly on
his brow, while a never ending future
opened its horrible gates to his hope,
less vision. Death sat enthroned in
his mortal tabernacle — and the spirit
must be torn from its earthly cover-
ing, and bound in everlasting chains
of darkness under the dominion of
the fallen angels. The death passed
upon Adam, then, was an endless
death of both body and spirit — the body
to moulder in dust to rise no more —
the spirit to dwell in endless dark-
ness and misery. This was the pen-
alty, when considered separate and
apart from the atonement.
But this is not all. Both a tempo-
ral and spiritual death was inherited
by all his descendants. And if God
had not provided a plan of redemption,
all mankind would have been miser-
able forever, because of the conse-
quences entailed upon them by the
sin of their first parents ; their misery
and wretchedness would have been
as great as though they themselves
had committed the sin. Their spirits,
though pure and innocent, before they
entered the body, would become
contaminated by entering a fallen
tabernacle ; not contaminated by
their own sins, but by their con-
nection with a body brought into
the world by the fall, earthly, fallen,
imperfect, and corrupt in its nature,
A spirit, having entered such a
tabernacle, though it may commit
no personal sins, is unfit to return
again into the presence of a holy
Being, unless there is an atone-
ment made ; hence, without an atone-
ment all infants would have been end-
lessly lost, because of the natural con-
sequences of Adam's sin. It is true,
justice would not demand, that any
spirit should suffer because of the
sins of its parents, but the first
parents brought this endless d^ath of
body and spirit upon their offspring
unjustly, as a natural evil resulting
from the fall that could not be other-
wise. They suffer it, not as a pen-
alty for Adam's sin, but as an infant
suffers disease inherited through the
unvirtuous conduct of its progenitors.
If it should be supposed, however,
that the spirits, being innocent, were
forbidden to leave their habitation,
and come down and enter into fallen
tabernacles, under the penalty of
spiritual death ; and if it should also
be supposed, that these spirits, being
agents, came in violation of the law,
then the nature of the foregoing
reasonings would be, in some mea-
sure, changed, and each one would
suffer, if it were not for the atonement,
an endless spiritual death as a result
of his own disobedience to the com-
mandment not to enter a fallen taber-
nacle. But as there is no account of
any such law being enacted, intended
as a warning to spirits not to defile
themselves by entering a fallen body,
it therefore, must be concluded, that
the death of both spirit and body are
hereditary evils, entailed unjustly upon
us by our first parents. These hered-
itary sufferings give us a knowledge
of evil, the same as partaking of the
forbidden fruit gave Adam a know-
ledge of the same principle. These
hereditary sufferings also give us a
knowledge of justice, in the same
manner as Adam learned the nature
of justice by suffering for his own
transgressions. Adam caused his
offspring to partake of the bitter un-
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
99
justly, and without their consent or
agency, and they thus learn the na-
ture of misery; while he, himself,
learned the nature of bitter or misery
justly as a penalty for his own sin.
77. In the preceding paragraph,
we have examined the doleful effects,
resulting from Adam's sin, when con-
sidered without any reference to the
■atonement ; from which it will be per-
ceived, first, that Adam's sin placed
him and his descendants under the
captivity and power of the Devil,
wherein all mankind became spiritu-
ally dead forever; having perished
from that which is good, they became
subject to the will of the Devil, and
thus became lost eternally. Secondly,
that Adam's sin shut all mankind out
from the presence of God no more to
return. Thirdly, that Adam's sin
brought death into the world, even
the death of the body, or in other
words, an eternal separation of body
and spirit, the body returning to dust
to rise no more, and the spirit re-
maining in chains of darkness to be
happy no more. These fearful con-
sequences resulted from the fall.
From these consequences man could
not redeem himself; the chains of
everlasting darkness encircled him
about, and he could not rend them
assunder; he had lost all power and
was in hopeless despair. But sud-
denly, a voice from on high pene-
trated the depths of eternal night
with which he was surrounded ; it
was not the harsh voice of malicious
fiends, grinning horribly at their
■captive victim; but it was the voice
of mercy which broke harmoniously
wpon the ear; it was the voice of
compassion which gently whispered,
peace, to the despairing soul ; it was
the voice of hope — -the voice of love —
the voice of one bringing glad tidings
of great joy — the voice of a com-
passionate Father, proclaiming Re-
demption through His Only Begotten
Son. Despair fled away — Hope
sprang up in the heart — Joy lighted up
the countenance — and man by faith
beheld himself redeemed through the
death and sacrifice of the First Born ;
redeemed from that endless spiritual
death which was entailed by the fall ;
his body redeemed from an endless
sleep in the grave ; his spirit re-
deemed from an endless subjection
to the power of the Devil. He be-
held, by faith, the body restored from
the dust — the spirit restored to the
body — mortality restored to immor-
tality— and man restored to the pres-
of his Father. Thus we see, that
"in Adam all die" temporally,
spiritually, and eternally ; and that
" in Christ all are made alive," tem-
porally, spiritually, and eternally, so
far, at least, as the original sin is
concerned.
78. Christ is the life and the light
of the world. Without His atone-
ment, no life nor light could have ap-
proached us ; naught but eternal dark-
ness, and death, and misery could
have, reigned. As all this misery
came by the unrighteous acts of one
man, even so, all the redemption, and
light, and life, restored to the world,
came by one Being who was as "a
Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." As the children of
Adam had no agency in committing
the original sin, even so, they are
redeemed unconditionally, and uni-
versally from the effects of that sin,
otherwise those effects would have
never had an end. Redemption from
the original sin was through Christ,
that is, through free grace alone
without werks ; no works were re-
quired of j«an in order that free
grace might become effectual in his
recovery from the effects of the sin
of his first parents. None of the
posterity of Adam, as a condition of
redemption from that sin, are required
to repent, or believe, or be baptized,
or do anything else; all conditions
on the part of man, are entirely ex-
cluded. The atonement alone, with-
out works, has made all mankind in
their infant state, alive in Christ;
hence the great wickedness of bap-
tizing little children, for they are al-
ready free from Adam's sin because
of Christ. Baptism was instituted
as one of the conditions through
which remission of our own personal
sins, is granted because of the atone-
100
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAK.
merit ; but the atonement requires
no baptism nor any other condition
in order to remit the original sin or
redeem us therefrom. The original
sin was forgiven nearly six thousand
years ago, or soon after it was com-
mitted ; Adam was the one who com-
mitted the sin, and Adam was the
one who obtained forgiveness of the
same : the descendants of Adam are
affected by that sin, but are not
guilty of committing it ; therefore
they need no forgiveness, no faith, no
repentance, no baptism for the re-
mission of that sin : hence it is a
solemn mockery before God to bap-
tize little children ; and God will not
hold parents guiltless who suffer this
abominable thing to be practiced in
their families, and the Lord God will
punish those men who practice this
great wickedness in his name ; for
will the Lord receive at our hands
that which he has not commanded ?
And will he suffer us to go unpunish-
ed, if we use his name in vain, and
practice abominations in his name ?
Therefore, we say unto all such, let
these evil practices cease from be-
fore the Lord, lest he smite you by
the rod of his mouth, and by his
wrath, and you perish out of the
earth, and also from his presence.
79. Man, having learned good and
evil by the fall, and having an atone-
ment provided by which he became
in his infant state innocent before
God, was placed in a condition in
which he could act for himself, either
to do good or evil, and a probation
was given him. Now, the Lord did
not see proper to redeem man from
the effects of the fall immediately ;
therefore, the time preceding death,
became a probationary state, or a
state of trial : laws were given to
govern him, adapted to the nature and
degree of his knowledge : he was
commanded to do good and not evil ;
penalties were affixed to the laws
given him. All mankind, as they
grow up from infancy to years of ac-
countability, transgress these laws
and subject themselves to the penalty
thereof, which is a second death.
This second death will not be inflict-
ed until all mankind are redeemed
from the first death, and restored in
their immortal state into the presence
of their Judge, to be judged by the re-
vealed law, according to their worksr
whether they be good or evil. Were
it not that Christ suffered for the sins
committed by the posterity of Adam,
as well as for the original sin, no flesh
that sins could be saved ; for sin con.
ceives in the hearts of all as they grow
up to know good and evil. Therefore,
if the atonement reached no further
than the original sin, every soul who
sinned against the second law would
die a second spiritual death : he would
again be placed in a condition with-
out hope ; he would again perish
from that which is good and become
miserable, both body and spirit, for-
ever: it is true, his body would not
return the second time to dust, but he
would be banished the second time
from the presence of his Judge, where
both body and spirit would be mise-
rable forever; where no ray of hope
could ever break upon his mind.
Such must have been the conse-
quences, if the original sin was the
only sin atoned for : under these cir-
cumstances, none but infants and those
who died without knowledge enough
to sin, could be saved. All the rest
would be irrecoverably lost.
80. But Christ died, not only to re-
deem mankind from the original sin,
but to redeem them from the penalty
of their own individual sins, not
unconditionally, but conditionally.
Though Christ has suffered both body
and spirit, the pains of all the human
family to atone for all their sins, yet
this atonement cannot take effect
upon them, unless they believe in
Him, repent of their sins, and are
immersed in water in the name of
the Lord Jesus for the remission of
sins, and are confirmed by the laying
on of the hands for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, and continue in
faithfulness unto the end ; on such
the second death will have no power.
But those who will not repent and
who reject the plan of salvation, must
suffer the penalty of the law even ac-
cording to the decree which God
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
101
hath made. Such will be punished
with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the
glory of his power. But as God will
reward and punish all men according
to their works, whether good or evil,
there will be different degrees of
happiness and glory to answer the
ends of the atonement, and different
degrees of punishment and misery to
answer the ends of justice. And
thus the love, and mercy, and justice
of God will be magnified before all
the heavenly host and before all men.
81. Redemption from the original
sin is universal and unconditional;
redemption from our personal sins is
conditional. The first is brought |
about by free grace alone without
works. The second is brought about
by free grace through works. The
former is a universal salvation ; the
latter is a salvation of those only who
receive the gospel. Redemption
from Adam's sin restores us back
into the presence of God ; redemp-
tion from our own sins retains us in
the presence of God in a state of
never ending happiness. Those who
reject a redemption from the second
death, will be compelled to receive a
redemption from the first death. As
Christ was lifted up by wicked men
upon the cross, so shall wicked men
be lifted up from the grave to stand
before Him to be judged for all their
wicked deeds. As Christ was judged
and rejected by sinners, so shall sin-
ners be judged and rejected by Him.
Thus all things are planned in wis-
dom, in righteousness, and in holi-
ness, for the redemption and happi-
ness of man, and also for his damna-
tion and misery; that mercy and
justice may each have their claims,
and God be perfect in all his attri-
butes.
Hew great and wonderful are the
works of the Almighty, as displayed
in the creation and government of
man! What infinite wisdom is
manifested in his redemption ! How j
great the inducements held out to'
fallen man to reclaim and restore him
to happiness ! How merciful, and
yet how just is the great Judge o( all
the earth, in meting out rewards and
punishments, according to the works
of men !
82. Having shown that man had
a pre-existence in the heavens before
the foundation of this world, that he
was an intelligent moral agent, gov-
erned by laws, that he kept his first
estate, that this earth was organized
for his residence, wherein he had the
privilege of being associated with a
tabernacle or body, that this is the
second estate, in which he encoun-
ters new trials under new conditions,
which, if he overcomes, and keeps
the higher laws, adapted to this state
of being, will prepare him for a fur-
ther advancement in the attributes
and perfections of his Heavenly Fa-
ther from whom he originated and
by whom he was begotten, long an-
terior to his present existence ; hav-
ing shown that the fall was neces-
sary that he might become like the
Gods, knowing good and evil, and
that redemption was necessary that
he might know how to appreciate
happiness, by its contrast with misery,
we will next inquire into the nature,
origen, and extent of his capacities
as a moral and intelligent being.
83. First. What is the nature of
the capacities of man? Man has the
capacities of self-motion, of thinking,
feeling, hating, loving, enjoying, suf-
fering, remembering, reasoning, and
many other qualities, too numerous
to mention. Of all the qualities pos-
sessed by man, that of self-motion
appears to us the most marvelous.
All motions, excepting those of living
beings, are said to be of a mechani-
cal nature — that is, produced by
matter's acting upon matter ; all me-
chanical operations, in their origin,
are the results of a living self-moving
force. The great laws of nature,
themselves, are the results of this
force. There is no other force in
the universe. Those qualities which
are called mechanical forces, gravi-
tating forces, chemical forces, &c,
are not forces, but only effects. The
force which produces these effects is
hidden from the view of mortals. A
living, intelligent, self-moving force,
102
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAW.
is the origen of all the motions and
laws of nature. Man has this capa-
city of self-motion, and exercises it to
a small extent, in the moving of his
limbs and body. But to enter into
the investigation, in this treatise, of
the nature of self moving forces in
general, would be foreign to the sub-
ject under consideration. For fur-
ther information upon this interesting
though recondite principle, our read-
ers are referred to our treatise, en-
titled Great First. Cause, or the Self-
Moving Forces of tlie Universe. The
nature of thinking, remembering, and
all the other capacities of man which
we have named, are already familiar
to the understanding of every one.
No one will dispute, but what man
possesses all these qualities.
84. Secondly. Whence originated
these capacities? When we speak
of capacities we mean the original
elementary capacities of the mind.
We are well aware that metaphysi-
cians consider many of the qualities
named to be of a secondary or com-
pound nature, growing out of the
combinations of qualities still more
original. All this we are willing to
admit ; but these secondary qualities,
if analyzed, will be found in all in-
stances to be the result of the combi-
nation of simple, elementary, original
capacities. The question is, whence
originated these elementary qualities
of the mind? We answer, they are
eternal. The capacities of all spirit
ual substance are eternal as the sub-
stance to which they belong. There
is no substance in the universe which
feels and thinks now, but what has
eternally possessed that capacity.
These capacities may be suspended
for a season, but never can be anni-
hilated. A substance which has not
these capacities now, must eternally
remain without them. The amount
of matter in space can never be in-
creased nor diminished, neither can
there be a new elementary capacity
added to this matter. For the argu-
ments sustaining the eternity of mat-
ter and its capacities, see our treatise,
referred to in the preceding para-
graph. Admitting the eternity of the
capacities, then the materials of
which our spirits are composed, must
have been capable of thinking, mov-
ing, willing, &c, before they were
organized in the womb of the celes-
tial female. Preceding that period
there was an endless duration, and
each particle of our spirits had an
eternal existence, and was in posses-
sion of eternal capacities. Now can
it be supposed, for one moment, that
these particles were inactive and
dormant from all eternity until they
received their organization in the
form of the infant spirit? Can we
suppose that particles, possessed of
the power to move themselves, would
not have exerted that power, during
the endless duration preceding their
organization? If they were once or-
ganized in the vegetable kingdom,
and then disorganized by becoming
the food of celestial animals, and then
again re-organized in the form of the
spirits of animals which is a higher
sphere of being, then, is it unreason-
able to suppose that the same parti-
cles have, from all eternity, been
passing through an endless chain of
unions and disunions, organizations
and disorganizations, until at length
they are permitted to enter into
the highest and most exalted sphere
of organization in the image and
likeness of God ? A transmigra-
tion of the same particles of spirits
from a lower to a higher organi-
zation, is demonstrated from the fact
that the same particles exist in a
diffused scattered state, mingled with
other matter; next, they exist in a
united form, growing out of the earth
in the shape of grass, herbs, and
trees; and after this, these vegetab'es
become food for celestial animals, and
these same particles are organized
into their offspring, and thus form the
spirits of animals. Here, then, is
apparently a transmigration of the
same particles of spirit from an in-
ferior to a superior organization,
wherein their condition is improved,
and their sphere of action enlarged.
Who shall set any bounds to this up-
ward tendency of spirit ? Who shall
prescribe limits to its progression?
THE PRE-EXISTEVCE OP MAN.
103
ff it abide the laws and conditions of
its several states of existence, who
shall say that it will not progress un-
til it shall gain the very summit of
perfection, and exist in all the glorious
beauly of the image of God ?
85. When, therefore, the infant
spirit is first born in the heavenly
world, that is not a commencement of
its capacities. Each particle eter.
nally existed prior to this organiza-
tion : each was enabled to perceive its
own existence ; each had the power
of self-motion ; each would be an in-
telligent living being of itself having
no knowledge of the particular
thoughts, feelings, and emotions of
other particles with which it never had
been in union. Each particle would
be as independent of every other
particle as one individual person is of
another. In this independent sepa-
rate condition, it would be capable of
being governed by laws, adapted to
the amount of knowledge and ex-
perience it had gained during its past
eternal existence. Each particle that
complies with the laws prescribed for
its rule of action, is permitted to rise
in the scale of existence ; for, by
obeying the law, it gains more knowl-
edge, and is thus prepared to act in a
higher sphere, and under a superior
law. How many different laws these
particles have acted under during the
endless school of experience through
which they have passed is not known
to us. What degree of knowledge
they have obtained by experience,
previous to their organization in the
womb of the celestial female, is not
revealed. One thing is ceitain, the
particles that enter into the organiza-
tion of the infant spirit, are placed in
a new sphere of action : the laws to
govern them in this new and superior
condition must be different from any
laws under which they had pre-
viously acted.
86. The particles organized in an
infant spirit, can no longer act, or
feel, or think as independent individ-
uals, but the law to control them in
their new sphere, requires them to
act, and feel, and think in union, and
to be agreed in all things. When
the same feelings, the same thoughts,
the same emotions, and the same
affections, prevade every particle, ex-
isting in the union, the united indi-
viduals will consider themselves as
one individual ; the interest and wel-
fare of each will be the inteiest and
welfare of the whole : if one suffers,
they all suffer: if one rejoices, they
all rejoice: if one gains any informa-
tion, it is communicated to all the
rest: if one thinks, all the rest think
in the same manner: if one feels,
they all feel: in fine, the union of
these particles is so perfect, that there
can be no state or affection of one,
but all the rest are immediately noti-
fied of it, and are thus by sympathy
in the same state or affection. And,
therefore, they live, and move, and
think, and act as one being, though
in reality, it is a being of beings. iSo
far as the substance is concerned
the spiritual body is a plurality of be-
ings; so far as the attributes or qual-
ities are considered, it is but one be-
ing. We should naturally suppose,
that individual particles which have
been accustomed to act in an indi-
vidual capacity, would, at first, find it
very difficult to act in perfect concord
and agreement. Each individual
particle must consent, in the first
place, to be organized with other
similar particles, and after the union
has taken place, they must learn, by
experience, the necessity of being
agreed in all their thoughts, affections,
desires, feelings, and acts, that the
union may be preserved from all con-
trary or contending forces, and that
harmony may pervade every depart-
ment of the organized system. Now,
to learn all this, there must be a law
given of a superior nature to those by
which they were formerly governed
in their individual capacities as sepa-
rate particles. A. law regulating
them when existing out of the organi-
zation, would be entirely unsuitable to
their new sphere of existence. New
laws are wanted, requiring each parti-
cle no longer to act in relation to its
own individual self, but to act in relation
to the welfare and happiness of every
other particle in the grand union. All
104
THE PRE-F.XISTENCE OF MAN.
disobedience to this law by any parti,
cle or particles in the organization,
would necessarily bring its appropri-
ate punishment: and thus by suffering
the penalties of the law they would in
process of time become martialed and
disciplined to perform their appro-
priate functions in the spiritual sys-
tem. The appropriate place for this
grand school of experience, is in ihe
Heavenly world, where, from the
time of their birth as infant spirits,
until the time that they are sent into
this world to take fleshly tabernacles,
the organized particles are instructed
and educated in all the laws pertain-
ing to theirunion, until they are made
perfectly ONE in all their attributes
and qualities; but not one in sub-
stance, for this would be impossible;
each particle, though organized, main-
tains its own identity in the system.
The oneness, therefore, can only con-
sist in the sameness of the qualities
which are attained by ages of experi-
ence through strict adherence to the
wise and judicious laws, given to
govern them in their united capacity.
87. The particles organized in an
infant spirit, before they had learned
the necessity of being perfectly
agreed might bring themselves into
many disagreeable circumstances
which, by a perfect agreement, might
have been avoided. For instance,
one law of the union is, that when
any part of the system has ignorantly,
or in any other way placed itself in
disagreeable circumstances, the other
part shall take warning and endeavor
to avoid those circumstances. To
illustrate this law, suppose the par-
ticles, composing the right hand of a
spirit, were placed in contact with
certain substances which produced
great pain, the perception of this pain
is immediately communicated to the
particles, composing the left hand,
they, being inexperienced, give no
heed to the friendly warning, and
venture into the same difficulty as
those in the right hand; they now
{To be continued.)
feel pained, and learn by experi-
ence, or by the things which they
suffer, that they have violated one of
the laws of their union. This places
the particles on their guard, and they
learn to respect the communications
which any portion of the system con-
veys to the other ; they learn that the
same thing which will inflict pain on
one part of the system, will also in-
flict pain upon the particles in any
other part ; and thus when the com-
munication is made from one part of
the system to the other, the particles
have confidence in the intelligence
conveyed, and act accordingly. This
confidence is gained by experience.
The particles learn by experience
that to violate any law given to gov-
ern them in their united capacity
brings punishment and misery. It
is by experience that they learn to
act, and feel, and think, alike ; it is
by experience that they learn to love
and hate alike. However unlike
they may be in the degrees of knowl-
edge and experience which they had
accumulated previous to their union,
they, by being placed in the same
organization, are schooled alike, and
trained, disciplined, and educated
alike, till every particle has the
knowledge and experience of every
other particle, and thus by experience
they learn to be united in all things,
and to act with one will in all their
operations. To see the perfect union
which nowexists among the particles,
composing our spirits, as manifested
in thoughts, feelings, desires, and
operations, one would almost think
that these were the manifestations of
one single being or particle, instead
of a plurality of beings or particles.
But a little reflection, will correct
this false impression, and show us
that these are the manifestations of
the same attributes or qualities,
dwelling in millions of particles but
yielding obedience to the same great
laws, ordained for the government of
the organized union.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
105
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
(Continued.)
The multiplication of human be-
ings is not the only object of mar-
riage, but connected with this is the
righteous government of those beings.
If increase alone vveie the design,
then it could be accomplished through
the wicked as well as the righteous ;
but we have already proved that God
is not pleased with the increase of the
wicked : the cause of this displeasure
arises from the unrighteous govern-
ment exercised in their families. A
wicked man is totally unqualified to
govern a family according to the law
of righteousness ; for though he de-
liver righteous precepts, his wicked
examples preach louder in the ears of
his family than his precepts. If pre-
cepts have no influence in regulating
the conduct of the parents, how can
it be expected that they shall regulate
the acts ol the children? If parents
will not repent of their sins, and call
upon the Lord, and be baptized into
the Church of Christ, and receive the
Holy Ghost, and be diligent in obey-
ing every requirement of Heaven, the
children will be very likely to harden
their hearts also. Children are suc-
ceptible of influences ; those whom
they esteem most they will be the
most likely to imitate. And as child-
ren generally suppose their parents
to be superior to all others, they are
very apt to be controlled by their in-
fluence, either for good or for bad.
Hence, the wise man says, "Train
up a child in the way that he should
go, and when he is old he will not
depart from it." Parents cannot train
children in the proper path, unless
they walk therein themselves. There-
fore no individuals or nations are di-
vinely authorized to marry and mul-
tiply their species, unless they are
qualified to govern them according to
the law of God, and to teach them
both by example and precept the way
that leads to eternal life and happiness.
The salvation or damnation of a
family depends, in a very great de-
gree, upon the nature of the govern-
ment exercised in that family. If the
head of a family be a righteous man,
his influence is continually exercised
in every department of his house ;
his wife or wives are continually in-
structed in every good, and useful,
and upright principle ; his children
are taught in the law of God accord-
ing to their age, experience, and ca-
pacities ; his examples are imitated ;
his whole household love, revere, and
obey him : he leads them unto God
and teaches them how to be happy
here and hereafter; he obtains pro-
mises from the Almighty for them and
their generations, after them ; he
blesses them by the spirit of prophecy
according to the power and inspira-
tion of the Holy Ghost that is in him ;
and in fine, he is a prophet, patriarch,
prince, and saviour to all that God
has given him. Such a man is worthy
of a family ; he has a divine right to
marry, and multiply his offspring ; for
he thus, in training up a family, glori-
fies God ; he prepares them to asso-
ciate with a higher order of beings
in the Heavens; through his instru-
mentality they are made partakers of
eternal life. Contrast such an order
of family government with the un-
righteousness and disorder in the
families of the wicked ; and, then,
tell me, if such a man is not more
worthy of a hundred wives and a
thousand children, than the wicked
are to be entrusted with one ? Tell
me if such a man would not glorify
God more, in the salvation of a large
and numerous family than the wicked
man who is the instrument of bring-
ing damnation upon his family ? Hear
what is said concerning Abraham.
" And the Lord said, Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do ; see-
ing that Abraham shall surely be-
come a great and mighty nation, and
all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed in him ? For I know him
that he will command his children
and his household after him, and they
shall keep the way of the Lord, to do
106
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
justice and judgment ; that the Lord
may I, ring upon Abraham that which
He hath spoken of him. (Gen. IS :
17-19.) The Lord and two angels
had just taken dinner with Abraham,
and as they started on their journey
towards Sodom " Abraham went with
them to bring them on the way."
The Lord concluded to reveal to Abra-
ham a secret concerning the destruc-
tion of Sodom. The reason assign-
ed for revealing this secret to him,
was because he would "command
his children and his household;"
and because of this He would bring
upon him all that he had promised.
Thus we see that in consequence of
the good order and righteous govern-
ment which this Polygamist exercised
in his family, he was counted worthy
to have the Lord and his angels to
dine with him ; to receive a revela-
tion concerning the fate of the neigh-
boring cities ; and to learn that the
Lord would actually make him a great
nation, and that all nations should be
blessed in him. All these great bles-
sings were bestowed as a reward for
commanding his children and house-
hold accoiding to the law of God.
On the other hand, great and terrible
were the judgments which came upon
Sodom and the surrounding cities,
because they would not command their
children in righteousness, nor give
heed themselves to the law of God.
And even among the people of
God there is a distinction, arising
from the faithfulness of some and the
unfaithfulness of others. Those who
are the most upright are better quali-
fied to govern families than those who
are unfaithful. Though the Lord had
made promises to Jacob concerning
the posterity of his twelve sons, yet
because cf their wickedness while in
the wilderness He came very near
destroying them. The Lord said to
Moses, " I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiffnecked people :
Let me alone, that I may destroy
them, and blot out their name from
under Heaven : and I will make of
thee a nation mightier and greatier
than they.." (Ueut. 9: 13, 14.)
Why did the Lord wish to destroy
them and make the posterity of Moses
into a nation greater than they ?
Because Moses was more righteous
than they, and consequently was
much better qualified to instruct and
teach his children than all Israel;
and the Lord had a great desire to
bless those who were the most faith-
ful with a numerous posterity ; while
those among his people who trans-
gressed were considered unworthy
of standing at the head of a numer-
ous offspring. Had not Moses plead
before the Lord in behalf of Israel,
and referred to the promises made to
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, the Lord
might have destroyed them, and
raised up a mighty nation by Moses
in their stead. But the Lord heark-
ened unto Moses and " repented of
the evil which He thought to do unto
his people." (Ex. 33.)
Abram had a numerous household,
before Sarah gave Hagar to him for
a wife. We read of three hundred
and eighteen trained servants 4i born
in his own house." (Gen, 14 : 14.)
Now it is altogether likely that
Abram was more righteous and faith-
ful than all the church in his house ;
hence, he was the only one among
them that we have any account of
having more than one wife. His
faithfulness and his qualifications to
instruct and govern in righteousness,
entitled him to greater privileges.
The Lord blessed Gideon because
he was a mighty man of God with
upwards of seventy sons, and chose
him to deliver Israel.
David, being a man after God's
own heart, took seven wives before
he ascended the throne to reign over
all Israel. He being a prophet was
well qualified to govern and instruct
a family in righteousness. He had
more wives and children committed
to him than many of his brethren
because he was better qualified to
lead them to salvation. After David
had taken seven wives, the Lord
thinking that he had not yet a suffi-
cient number, gave into his bosom
all of Saul's wives. (2 Sam. 12 : 8.)
What is the secret of the Lord's
being so anxious for David to have
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
107
so many wives? Because, he, being
a man after God's own heart, would
he more likely to save his wives and
children, than many others of Israel
who were less faithful.
But when David turned from his
righteousness and took Uriah's wife,
the Lord now considered him no
longer worthy of his wives and He
gave them to his neighbor. He was
informed by the Lord through Nathan,
the Prophet, that if Saul's wives and
that which He had already given to
him "had been too litlle," " I would
moreover" he says, "have given
unto thee such and such things;"
(2 Sam. 12: 8.) clearly intimating
that, He, the Lord, would have given
him more, lawfully, if he had been
faithful. But now he had forfeited
all that he had got. Saul, though he
had been a prophet, afterwards trans-
gressed and rendered himself un-
woithy of his kingdom — unworthy of
his wives — and unworthy of even
life itself. Wives and children are
among the greatest blessings be-
stowed upon the righteous. He,
therefore, that receives *hese bless-
ings and continues faithful, will be
counted worthy to receive more ; but
he that is unfaithful will have taken
from him even that which he has.
This was the case with Saul and
David ; their wives were taken from
them. David by taking that which
did not belong to him, lost all his
own.
God raised up Solomon to sit upon
the throne of Israel ; and He ap-
peared unto him twice and gave him
great wisdom above all others and
the Lord was with him, and magni-
fied him exceedingly before all Israel,
and hearkened unto his prayer and
filled the temple which he built with
a cloud of glory, and caused fire to
descend from Heaven to consume the
sacrifice. This great man was much
better calculated to train up children
in the way that they should go than any
other man living, for God had given
him greater wisdom ; hence he had
seven hundred wives and three hun-
dred concubines. (1 Kings, 11.) But
even this wise man, turned away
from the Lord, by taking wives from
among surrounding nations who were
idolaters which thing the Lord had
expressly forbidden. (See verses 1,
2.) Solomon was not condemned
for marrying many wives of his own
nation; but having transgiessed the
strict commandment of God in marry,
ing out of his nation, he was left
unto himself and turned away after
the idolatrous <jods of his wives ; and
God rent the kingdom in twain in the
days of his son, and gave ten tribes
to another not of his seed.
Thus it will be seen that even
among the people of God there are
some who are more worthy than
others, consequently God gave such
more wives and children than He
did to others. These blessings were
dispensed, like all other blessings,
according to the righteousness, wis-
dom, faith, holiness and qualifications
of those who professed to be the
people of God. Some receiving
more ; some less ; some none at all ;
and some having taken from them
even those they had received.
Therefore though the males and
females had been of equal number in
Israel, yet God would confer upon
some more than upon others, accord-
ing to their worthiness. As it was
among Israel, so it is among the peo-
ple of Utah. Some are entitled to a
greater number of wives than others,
because of their righteousness.
Though the census should show an
equal number of the sexes in that
Territory, that does not prove that all
the men are equally qualified to in-
struct, counsel, govern, and lead wives
and children in the paths of righteous-
ness. A father would not confer upon
his children equal blessings, authori-
ty, and power, unless they were
equally faithful. A wise king having
many sons would confer authority and
power upon such only as would use
the same for the benefit of the peo-
pie. Those who would not be sub-
ject to good laws themselves, he
would not entrust to govern others.
Our Heavenly Father acts upon the
same principle. He is willing that
all should enjoy equal rights and
108
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
privileges, upon the ground of equal
obedience. We have this illustrated
in the parable of the talents : one
having one ; another two, and another
five. Those who made a proper use
of what was entrusted to them, gained
more : those who made an improper
use of their blessings, lost all they
had : their blessings were taken
from them and given to others, who
had more abundantly. This explains
the mystery why the Lord in ancient
times gave more wives to one than
what he did to another, when to all
appearance the number of males and
females were about equal.
And when the most of His people
were righteous and worthy to be en-
trusted with numerous families, and
there were not a sufficient number
of females to supply them with a
plurality of wives, the Lord provided
for them, by commanding them to
spare the female captives of certain
nations taken in war. Hence when
the Israelites made war against Mi-
dian they slew all the men, and took
the women and children captives.
Moses afterwards commanded them
as follows : "Kill every male among
the little ones, and kill every woman
that hath known man by lying with
him. But all the women children
that have not known a man by lying:
with him, keep alive for yourselves."
(Numbers, 31: 17, 18.)
This was made a law among Israel
in all their wars against foreign
cities and nations. Moses said con-
cerning the city that would not make
peace with Israel, "Thou shall be
siege it : and when the Lord thy
God hath delivered it into thine
hands, thou shall smite every male
thereof with the edge of the sword ;
but the women, and the little ones,
and the cattle, and all that is in the
city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt
thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt
eat the spoil of thine enemies, which
the Lord thy God hath given thee.
Thus shalt thou do unto ail the cities
which are very far off from thee,
which are not of the cities of these
nations." (Deut. 20: 12, 15.) If
Israel kept the law which was given
them, they must have accumulated
hundreds of thousands of female cap-
tives for themselves. But why were
they commanded to preserve the fe-
males and not the males? Because
the Lord was very anxious that His
people should have a plurality of
wives, for they were the only people
qualified on the face of the whole
earth to raise up children in righteous-
ness ; therefore the Lord took partic-
ular care to make such provisions as
would constitute Israel a nation of
polygamists.
The male is appointed by the au.
thority of God to be at the head of
his family — to be a Patriarch and
Saviour unto them. If the male chil-
dren of these nations had been spared
alive, they would have remembered
their fathers, and as they grew up
they would have turned away to the
idolatry and abominations of their
fathers ; and if they had married
wives among Israel, they would have
been instruments not only in ruining
themselves, but their families also.
But not so with the females who
were spared alive. They would be
connected in marriage with good
men, to whom they would be subject,
and their children also ; and the man,
being at the head of the family, would,
by his good examples and precepts,
save all his wives and children.
Hence we see the wisdom of God in
destroying the males and saving the
women for his people ; that they, by
having a great number of wives,
might multiply the chosen seed as
the stars of Heaven.
The number of the children of Is-
rael compared with the number of
families, shows that polygamy must
have been practiced to a very great
extent while they were in the wilder-
ness. Moses was commanded to take
the number of all the males from
twenty years old and upwards that
were able to go forth to war. (Num-
bers, 1: 2, 3.) The number was
found to be six hundred and three
thousand five hundred and fifty,
(verse 46.) It is very likely that the
number of males under twenty years
would, when added to the others, in-
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
109
crease the same to about one million.
The number of females, it is most
likely, was far greater, as the Egyp-
tians upwards of forty years betbre
had commenced destroying the male
children. The whole nation of Is-
rael, therefore, must have been some-
thing near two and one-half millions.
Now, how many first born males
were there in this numerous host ?
Answer : only twenty-two thousand
two hundred and seventy-three. (See
Numbers, 3: 43.) Hence there was
among the whole number of males
only an average of one out of thirty,
nine that was the first born. How
can that be possible 1 It could not
be possible only upon the principle of
a plurality of wives existing in almost
every family; for each women could
not have had thirty. nine sons ; and it
must be recollected that only one out
of this number could be the first born.
Now, a man that had four wives
might possibly have thirty-nine sons;
in this case there would be only one
out of the number who could be the
first born. The first born has rela-
tion only to the man who is the head
of the family, and not to the woman.
Though Jacob had four wives and
twelve sons, yet Reuben only was
called the first born. It may be said
that there were many families whose
first born were daughters : of this
there is no doubt. Admit that the
two classes of families were equal,
still there would be only forty-four
thousand five hundred and forty-six
families having children in all Israel;
taking into consideration those fami-
lies that had no children, the whole
number of families in Israel could not
have exceeded fitly thousand. Now,
two and one-half millions of people
must have all been included in fifty
thousand families, which would be an
average of just fifty to a family. As
one wife could not be the mother of
forty. eight children, it shows most
conclusively that nearly every family
in Israel must have practiced polyga-
my. As each man's family consisted,
at least, of fifty persons, and if five
children be allowed as an average to
each wife, then each man's family
must have consisted of about eight
wives and forty childien. There is
no getting away from these scriptural
pi oofs in favor of polygamy. No
person can explain upon any other
principle, how there could be only
twenty-two thousand two hundred and
seventy-three first born males in a
nation whose population, at a very
low estimate, must have numbered
two and one-half millions.
At the highest estimate, there
could not have been over fifty thou-
sand married men in Israel at that
time, and yet there must have been
something like three or four hundred
thousand married women. The num-
ber of married men is approximately
estimated from the number of first
born males. And the number of mar-
ried women is approximately estimat-
ed from the whole number of Israel.
At the above estimate the number
of males remaining unmarried would
amount to about nine hundred and
fifty thousand ; of this number there
would be upwards of five hundred
and fifty thousand over twenty years
of age, not married; while the num-
ber of unmarried females would be
about eleven or twelve hundred thou-
sand.
Of those males who were old
enough to marry, as an average, only
one out of twelve had a family. There
must be some cause tor this. Can
any one give a reasonable cause ?
Can any one tell why only about
one-twelfth part of the men at that
time had families ? Have we not
reason to believe that only this small
proportion of the men were worthy
of wives or children? Why were
fifty thousand men blessed with some
three or lour hundred thousand wives,
while upwards of five hundred and
fifty thousand had none at all ? We
cannot answer this question, only
upon the principle that God gives
wives and children in great abund-
ance to his faithful servants, and
withholds them from the unfaithful,
for fear that they will increase an
unrighteous posterity upon the earth.
Should God deal with the saints in
Utah upon the same principle now,
110
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
that He did in ancient times, it would
be nothing strange if He should give
to many of His faithful servants a
hundred fold of wives and children ;
while others, less faithful, would be
limited to one, and others still have
none at all, like the great majority of
Israel in the wilderness.
If any one should say that the
manner in which God dispensed His
blessings under the Mosaic dispensa-
tions, is not applicable under the gos-
pel. In reply, we ask, Is it any
more pleasing in the sight of God for
a wicked man to bring up a family
in wickedness under the gospel dis-
pensation than it was under former
dispensations ? Are not the evil con-
sequences the same under every dis-
pensation ? Is there not just as much
danger of a wicked man's bringing
ruin and eternal misery upon his
family under the gospel as well as
under the law? If, then, God is
now, just as much displeased with a
family reared in wickedness ; and if
there is the same danger of destroy-
ing the immortal souls of the off-
spring now, as under the Mosaic dis-
pensation, then why should it be
thought strange that God should use
the same preventatives now that He
did anciently, to check the increase
of the wicked, and the same facilities
to greatly increase the families of the
righteous? Why should it be con-
sidered unreasonable that God should
give many wives and children to
those who would in righteousness
command their households, as Abra-
ham did, and withhold these bless-
ings from others who are unworthy ?
These testimonies and arguments
effectually demolish the great objec-
tion to a plurality of wives, founded
upon the equality of the numbers of
males and females in Utah. It will
be seen, that if the males in that ter-
ritory were five times more numer-
ous than the females, still the forego-
ing arguments would show the neces-
sity of a plurality of wives; unless it
can be proved that all the males in
that territory are equally faithful, and
consequently equally worthy to be
entrusted with these great blessings.
But the question may be asked, Who
is to decide upon the worthiness or
unworthiness of the people? We
answer, the same Being who always
decided all matters of importance
among His people. But is there not
great danger of being deceived?
Yes ; there is very great danger, in-
deed, of being deceived, unless you
believe in a God who gives revela-
tion now as He did in ancient times.
All the nations, of the earth have al-
ways been deceived when they got
so far from God that He would not
speak to them ; they are then left to
follow their own imaginations, which
are sure to deceive them. But when
God speaks there is no chance of de-
ception. His sheep know His voice
and will follow Him ; hence it is not
possible for the elect to be deceived ;
because they converse with God, and
He never deceives any one. If the
people of Utah are the people of God,
then there is no possible chance of
their being deceived upon any sub-
ject of as great importance as that of
the plurality of wives; for no man
has a right to these blessings unless
God shall give them to him through
His servant the prophet. But, on
the other hand, if the people of Utah
have no prophet, then they are not
the people of God, but are deceived
like all the rest of Christendom who
are without prophets. In the latter
case, we would not be worthy of
even one wife, much less a plurality.
A people that have no prophets or
inspired men among them, never
were worthy of wives or children in
any age of the world. Hence if the
people of Utah cannot inquire of God
and receive revelations from Him,
they are no more entitled to wives
and children than Apostate Christen-
dom are. The righteousness or un-
righteousness of having a plurality of
wives, or even one wife, all hangs
upon the simple question, Whether
the people who presume to marry,
are, or are not, the people of God ?
If they are not, they have no divine
right to even one wife ; if they are
His people He has the undoubted
right to show, through His prophet,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
Ill
how many wives, if any, each may
have.
But would it be right for the Lat-
ter-Day Saints to marry a plurality
of wives in any of the States, or Ter-
ritories, or nations, where such prac-
tices are prohibited by the laws of
man? We answer no: it would not
be right ; for we are commanded to
be subject to the powers that be.
So long as we live under their juris-
diction, we are commanded to keep
their laws, unless their laws are un-
righteous, like those given by Nebu-
chadnezzer, commanding all people
to fall down and worship a golden
image which he had caused to be set
up ; we then should, no doubt, rebel
as the three Hebrews did. But all
laws which we could keep without
violating our consciences, it is our
duty to obey so long as we live under
them. The laws enacted by the dif-
ferent States and Territories against
the plurality of wives, we believe to
be unconstitutional, growing out of
the narrow-contracted bigoted cus-
toms of Apostate Christianity, never-
theless it is the duty of the saints so
long as they remain under such il-
liberal laws to strictly comply with
them. But if they wish to enjoy the
privileges granted by the word of
God, and by the glorious Constitution
of our National Republic, let them
depart from under the jurisdiction of
these illiberal State laws, and go to
Utah where religious liberty is tole-
rated, and where every people and
sect have the right to worship as
they please, and marry as many
wives as they please, and be ac-
countable to God and not to man.
Laws are intended to prevent
crime, and the revealed law of God.
and the light of conscience are abun-
dantly sufficient to determine what is
crime. A well instructed conscience
will not determine any thing to be
crime which ;s not inconsistent with
the revealed law. As plurality of
wives is perfectly consistent with the
revealed law, it is not a crime ; and
therefore no human laws should de-
nounce it as such : but every man
should be left perfectly free in regard
to this thing, so far as human laws
are concerned.
Every enlightened conscience, as
well as the word of God, will tell us
that lying, stealing, robbing, false
swearing, committing adultery, tres-
passing, murdering, and many other
similar acts, are crimes ; and there-
fore the legislative departments should
enact wise and judicious laws for their
punishment. But where in the word
of God is the plurality of wives de-
nounced as a crime ? Nowhere: but
on the contrary, it was approbated of
God. Shall human wisdom, then,
presume to enact laws against that
which is nowhere in the divine oracles
condemned as a crime ? Must we,
under the broad folds of the American
Constitution, be compelled to bow
down to the narrow contracted no-
tions of Apostate Christianity ! Must
we shut up our consciences in a nut
shell, and be compelled to submit to
the bigoted notions, and whims, and
customs of the dark ages of pope/y,
transferred to us through the super-
stitions of our fathers? Must we be
slaves to custom and render homage
to the soul-destroying, sickening in-
fluences of modern Christianity?
No : American freedom was never
instituted for such servile purposes ;
the Constitution of our country was
never framed to crush the conscience
of man, and put upon him the iron
yoke of Romish superstition ; our
illustrious fathers never fought and
bled to bequeath to their children the
heritage of freedom mingled with
despotism ; the proud American eagle
was never made to stretch forth its
wings and soar aloft to mock the sons
of freedom's soil. Liberty — unbound-
ed liberty of conscience should char-
acterize the laws of each of the
States of this great and extended
Union. Here the Hindoo or the
1 Chinese should be permitted to bow
| down and worship the idolatrous gods
! of their fathers, unmolested and un-
harmed, so long as they are guilty of
no crimes, and do nothing calculated
to injure society. Under a theocrati-
cal form of government an idolater
would be punished with death ; for
112
CONTENTS.
idolatry is a great crime in the sight
of God. A theocracy would consider
all religions, except one, criminal, and
would limit and circumscribe all but
one. But the government of this na-
tion is not a theocracy; it is intended
to give religious freedom to all ; to
carry out these views, the various re-
ligions among pagan nations should
be tolerated here, and their followers
receive the same protection by law
as the Methodists, Baptists, Presby-
terians, or any other society. If any
religion which does not conflict with
the Constitution of the country is to
be prohibited, the same rule will pro-
hibit all others. So long, therefore,
as the present form of this Republi-
can Government is our standard, let
the religions of all nations be equally
protected. And if any among the
nations of Asia or Africa, or of the
islands of the sea, consider it right to
have a plurality of wives, and wish
to emigrate with their numerous
families, and become citizens ot this
great Republic, they ought to have
that privilege, without being com-
pelled by the unconstitutional State
laws, to break up their families and
divorce all their wives but one. The
present illiberal State laws virtually
forbid emigration from about four-
fifths of the nations of the earth, and
yet it is pretended that our country is
an asylum for all nations. But let
them try it once, and they will soon
find our prisons filled with sincere but
unfortunate polygamists : they will
soon find that, with the exception of
one, all their wives, however dear to
their hearts, will be torn from their
embrace. Is this freedom and liber-
ty ! Is this the kind asylum held out
to the oppressed of all nations ! !
Must they relinquish the dearest and
most sacred rights ever enjoyed by
man, and break asunder the family
ties of conjugal affection and love, in
order to be made partakers of our
hospitality? Boast not, O proud
America, of the liberality of thy in-
stitutions, when such illiberal laws
as these curse thy soil ! After having
been subjected to the loss of his fami-
ly, well might the honest patriarchal
orientalist exclaim, " Give me my
wives and my children, and let Ameri-
ca keep her proffered liberty for others,
whose mines are already trammelled
under the whims and superstitions of
Papist and Protestant religions !
Give me my wives and my children,
and I will return to my native coun-
try, where the sacred rights of the
domestic circle are not invaded and
torn assunder by legislative enact-
ments ! Give me my wives and my
children, for without them the sound
of liberty has lost its sweetness in
my ear ! Give me my wives and my
children, and I am willing to endure
the hardships of the Old World, in
order to escape from the restrictive,
superstitious, oppressive laws of the
New ! " These would be the feel-
ings of millions of the inhabitants of
the Old World, should they emigrate
to our country and have their families
broken up, and they imprisoned for
polygamy by our unconstitutional
State laws. Why will not American
citizens, then, rise up with one ac-
cord and repeal those illiberal op-
pressive laws, and let the liberties
bequeathed to us by the choice blood
of our illustrious ancestors be enjoyed
to their fullest extent ? Why will not
America welcome the oppressed,
downtrodden sons of the Old World
to enjoy the luxuries of our soil, and
the great privileges of our sacred
Constitution, without tearing from
their embrace that which is dearer
than life, the moment that they set
foot upon our shores ?
(To be continued.)
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 97
Celestial Marriage ." 105
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published bt Onsow Pratt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
AUGUST, 1853.
No. 8.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
( Continued.)
88, Besides the laws, given to gov-
ern each individual particle in its or-
ganized capacity, there are other laws,
given to govern the whole body. These
again are of a still higher order ; for
these laws which regulate the different
parts of the organization for the general
good of the union, are altogether insuf-
ficient to govern the body as a whole.
For instance, by the laws regulating
each particle, the whole system becomes
angry at the same time, if a cause exist,
•exciting that passion ; but this law is
insufficient to control the passion when
it is excited. Another law is required
to regulate the action of the whole
system while under the passion. Un-
der the first law no one particle has a
right to get angry while the others are
pleased ; they are bound by law to all
get angry at once, or to all be pleased
at once, that there may be a perfect
agreement in their feelings. Under
the second or higher law, the whole
body of particles are required to gov-
ern the passions excited, in a certain
manner, in accordance with the prin-
ciples of justice and mercy that exist
in the bosom of the one who gave the
law. The spiritual body in its infancy
is entirely ignorant, as a whole, of the
nature of justice and mercy, good and
evil, and such like qualities ; but laws
of justice and mercy, of good and evil,
being given, the whole body learns to
control itself according to those laws.
A violation of any of thes% laws, im-
mediately brings unhappiness — that is,
the being is chastized, according to the
nature of the offence, and the penalties
annexed to the law; in this manner
the system learns, by the things which
it suffers, to obey this higher law Which
is very different from any of the pre-
ceding laws under which the particles
have been educated. The nature of
justice and mercy, good and evil, are
thus actually learned by experience.
Obedience to the laws of justice, and
suffering the penalties of disobedience,
impart, in the course of time, a sense
of justice to the particles in their or-
ganized capacity : so likewise obedi-
ence to the laws of mercy, and the
chastisements, resulting from the in-
fringements of those laws, soon inform
the organized particles, concerning the
nature of mercy. In like manner, a
sense of good and evil, and of all other
like qualities, is obtained from the en-
joyments resulting from obedience, and
the miseries inflicted for disobedience,
to the laws given to govern all those
qualities and passions. All these qual-
ities, therefore, are gained by experience.
The laws, being given and adhered to,
discipline and instruct the infant or
youthful spirit in the knowledge of
things, which previously it was entirely
ignorant of.
114
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
89. As all the infant spirits are in-
structed under the same laws, they all
acquire the same sense of justice, mer-
cy, good, and evil. It is for this cause,
that two or more spirits do not form
different ideas of the nature of good
and evil ; so far as they have been pro-
perly educated and taught in the same
law, one will not call good, evil ; or
evil, good ; and another have a differ-
ent idea of the same principles. Of
course, there will he spirits, possessing
different degrees of intelligence, depend-
ing on the obedience which they have
rendered to the various systems of laws
under which they have acted, during
the past ages of eternity, and also de-
pending upon the length of time in
which they have been educated and
taught in their spiritual organization.
But so far as they have acquired know-
ledge, it has been through the medium
of the same laws ; consequently the
same degree of knowledge in one, can-
not differ in its nature from the same
degree of knowledge in another.
90. If one class of spirits were edu-
cated under a system of laws which re-
warded them for doing that which we call
evil, and punished them for that which
we call good : while another class were
educated by laws of an opposite nature.
These two classes of spirits, when
brought together, would have entirely
opposite ideas concerning good and
evil. The fact that the spirits have, so
far as their knowledge extends, the same
ideas concerning the nature of justice and
mercy, good and evil, virtue and vice —
shows most clearly a cause for this
sameness ; now that which is preceded
by a cause cannot be eternal ; hence,
there must have been a time, when this
sameness of knowledge was acquired
by the particles constituting each
spiritual body. The capacities for per-
ceiving this knowledge are eternal ; but
the exercise of these eternal capacities
in acquiring a knowledge of the laws
of sfood and evil had a beginning". We
cannot conceive ot millions of beings,
having the same idea of the nature of
good and evil, without introducing a
cause to account for this sameness and
likeness ; and a cause always implies
a beginniiiff to the effects which follow.
But if millions of beings eternally pos-
sessed the same idea of the nature of
good and evil, all causes for this same-
ness of idea would be excluded : they
would possess this sameness by chance :
if it were eternal, there would be no
reason why even two beings should
have the same views concerning any-
thing: but when numberless millions
of beings are perceived to have the
same ideas in regard to the nature of
different acts, calling one species of acts
good, and another evil, it demonstrates,
in the most incontrovertible manner,
that these beings did not possess these
ideas eternally, hut that they acquired
them from one common cause, which
instructed and enlarged the eternal
capacities in the same school of laws,
that the same ideas, the same view's,
and the same knowledge, might per-
vade the whole, so far as they are in-
structed. This sameness of ideas will
enable them to act in unison, not only
for their own individual benefit, but for
the benefit of the whole community or
family of spirits with whom each is
associated.
91. While we are obliged to admit
the eternity of the substance and its;
capacities, on the other hand, we are
compelled to admit a beginning to the
organizations of- the particles of this
substance; there must also have been
a time when the eternal capacities be-
gan to know good and evil, justice and
mercy, love and hatred; for the same-
ness of these qualities, existing in the
minds of all mankind shows that they
must be derived qualities and therefore
that they could not have possessed
them eternally. All must at once see,
that the moment a quality or thing is
admitted to be eternal, all causes for
the nature, or peculiarity, or sameness
of the quality, and all causes for the-
particular magnitude or form of the
thing or being, are totally excluded.
In regard to that Which is eternal, we
would have no right to ask the ques-
tions, Why it is so ? Why it possesses-
such a quality ? Why it has a certain
magnitude ? Why it exists in a certain
form ? All such questions imply a
cause, and, therefore, a beginning. If
we were to admit that water was eter-
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
115
nal, then it would be entirely incon-
sistent to ask the question, Why one
drop of pure water possessed precisely
the same qualities of another? If both
drops were eternal there would, in
reality, be no cause for one being of the
same nature as the other. As there
would be no cause for any two drops,
out of an infinite number, to be alike,
Ave would have no reason to infer, prior
to experience, that they would taste
alike, or extinguish fire alike,, or that
drops of the same size would weigh
alike, or that they would quench thirst
alike, or that they would manifest any
other qualities alike. If, on the ex-
amination of the drops, we found them
to possess qualities alike, we would
naturally inquire, How came they to
be alike ? The natural answer would
be, They were designed to be alike for
purposes beneficial to the universe.
But if they were designed to be alike,
there must have been a period before
that design and before they were alike,
and consequently their present qualities
are not eternal, but acquired or derived
from some anterior qualities. So it is
in relation to the qualities of the hu-
man mind. The very fact that all
human minds look upon certain acts
to be good, and certain others to be
evil, shows that the qualities of the
mind are in many respects precisely
alike. If they were eternal there would
be no cause for any tAto, out of all
mankind, to have any qualities alike :
and no one would be able to infer,
prior to experience, that any of the
rest of mankind possessed qualities at
all resembling his own. If the quali-
ties were eternal, he could not with
propriety ask the question, Why a
man possessed superior qualities to a
brute ? Or, Why the constitution of
human minds resembled each other?
But man finds by experience that there
is a resemblance or similarity in the
constitution of all human minds, and
he naturally asks the question, What
is the cause of this likeness ? The an-
swer naturally occurs to his own mind
that, It was thus designed for the
general good of man ; and consequently
there must have been a time before the
design took effect, when the constitu-
tion of our minds Avere unlike, and,
therefore, that the present qualities of
our minds are not eternal, but are the
results of the combinations of anterior
qualities, which in their turn are ao;ain
the results of the exercise of the eter-
nal capacities.
92. Thirdly. Having investigated
the nature and origin of man's capa-
cities, let us next inquire into the ex-
tent of those capacities. It is almost uni-
versally supposed that the capacities of
man are finite — that is, limited in their
nature, and that it is utterly impos-
sible for man to acquire a fulness of all
knowledge. But this is a false suppo-
sition, without the least shadoAv of
foundation. We shall proceed to prove
that the capacities of man are not
finite, but infinite. It may be A\Tell for
us to define the terms, finite and
infinite before Ave proceed farther.
These terms have quite a different
sense Avhen used in relation to differ-
ent things. When used in reference
to space or duration, finite signifies
space or time included Avithin limits ;
Avhile infinite signifies boundless space
or endless duration. When used in
reference to numbers, the first means a
limited number, and the last a num-
ber unlimited or an endless series of
numbers. When applied to knowledge,
one means to knoAv only in part, Avhile
the other is to knoAv in full. When
used in reference to capacities, finite
signifies a ' capacity that is stationarv
or can only be expanded in a limited
degree, Avhile infinite signifies a capa-
city sufficiently great to grasp a ful-
ness of all knowledge, after Avhich ex-
pansion ceases for the Avant of nothing
more to be learned. A being may
have an infinite capacity, and still have
only a finite knowledge. We know of
no beings having only finite capacities.
Angles, men, beasts, birds, fish, and
insects, have finite knoAvledge, but Ave
have no reason to suppose any of them
to be limited in their capacities. For
aught Ave know, each and all of them
may have capacities capable of receiv-
ing infinite knoAvledge. If Ave were to
suppose that some of these beings are
finite in their capacities, then there
must be a certain limit of knoAvledge,
116
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
beyond which they can never pass :
for if they were capable of passing any
assigned limits of knowledge, they
would be capable of receiving a fulness
of all knowledge which would be in-
finite.
93. The constitution of our minds
is such, that we cannot easily con-
ceive of a being who is capacitated to
perceive one truth, but unable to per-
ceive another. It is true, there may be
obstacles in the way by which this be-
ing is prevented from acquiring a se-
cond truth; but remove all obstacles
and place the being in a favorable con-
dition, the question is, Could it not
perceive a second, a third, a fourth, or
even any number of truths, as well as
the first? We can see no possible
hindrance to its advancement in know-
ledge only by interposing obstacles in
the way. If the capacity have an ex-
istence, which it must have in order to
perceive one truth, we cannot conceive
how that it could possibly be limited,
so as never, under any circumstances,
to be able to perceive another. We
do not see why a faculty that is capa-
ble of discerning that two are more
than one, cannot also discern that three
are more than two. Some truths are
more difficult to be perceived than
others, but this is owing, not to the
want of capacity, but to the obstacles
which intervene between the capacity
and the truth to be perceived. Let the
intervening obstacles be removed, and
the capacity that is able to perceive
one truth could perceive all truth.
Therefore, wherever a being exists that
has any knowledge, however small the
amount, that being has infinite capaci-
ties, capable of perceiving all things
past, present, and to come, just as soon
as the intervening barriers are removed.
We are aware that this idea is in op-
position to the views of almost all
mankind: they have been taught that
the capacities, as well as the knowledge
of all beings, but God, were finite;
and from these false premises they have
drawn the conclusion that no beings
could ever attain to all the fulness of
the knowledge of God. If the premi-
ses were granted, the conclusions would
be just: but the premises are without
foundation, and are evidently false.
The capacities of man are not only
eternal, but infinite, and he is capable
of receiving infinite knowledge. And
without infinite knowledge his capaci-
ties never will be satisfied.
94. It is frequently said by philoso-
phers, that knowledge which is finite
can never be increased so as to become
infinite ; but this is in direct opposition
to fact. Our Saviour, when He came
into the world, possessed only finite
knowledge ; hence He is represented as
increasing in wisdom and stature. To
increase in wisdom evidently proves
that He was not at that time in the
possession of all wTisdom. His wisdom
and knowledge were finite. But He
afterwards attained a fulness, and as
Paul says, "In whom (Christ) are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and know-
ledge." And again, "In him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
(Col. 2 : 3, 9.) " It pleased the Father
that in him should all fulness dwell."
(Col. 1: 19.) John the Baptist bore
record that he beheld his glory, and
that he was "full of grace and truth."
(John 1 : 14.) At the time his Father
gave him the Holy Spirit, he, no doubt,
received a fulness : for John soon after
speaks thus of him : " God giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him. The
Father loveth the Son, and hath given
all things into his hands." (John
3 : 34, 35.) All the treasures of wis-'
dom, knowledge, and truth, were hid
in him ; he Avas full of them : the ful-
ness of the Spirit, the fulness of the
Godhead, and the fulness of power,
dwelt in him: all things were given
into his hand. There was no wisdom,
nor knowledge, nor power, nor domin-
ions, that the Father possessed, but
what Jesus possessed also. In fine, he
was one in all the fulness of the attri-
butes and perfections of the Father. It
was for this reason that Jesus said, "I
and my Father are one." (John 1 0 :
30.) Here, then, we have an example
of finite knowledge, wisdom, and pow-
er, increasing until the same became
infinite.
95. As we have one example of
finite knowledge being increased to in-
finity, we have reason to believe that
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
117
it may be the case in other instances.
If the First Born or oldest brother has
received a fulness, we see no impro-
priety in believing that the younger
brethren may also receive the same
fulness. Paul prayed that the Saints
u might be filled with all the fulness of
God;'— (Eph. 3: 19.) And Jesus
prayed that they all might be made
perfect in one, as he and the Father
are one. — (John 17.) When these
prayers are answered, they will know
as much as the Father and Son know.
They will be in the Father and Son,
and the Father and Son will be in
them, and the Father and Son and all
the Saints will be made perfect in one.
Hence John says, "Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be; but we
know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him."— (1 John 3: 2.)
Not only like him in body, but also in
mind. For then he " shall change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body." (Phillip-
pians 3 : 21.) Then Ave shall be per-
fect as our Father in Heaven is per-
fect—(Math. 5: 48:) then shall we
be pure as He is pure, and holy as He
is holy : then shall we know as we are
known, and see as wye are seen : then
shall we be heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Christ in the inheritance of
all things : then shall knowledge in
part be done away, and we shall know
in full : then there will be no knowl-
edge, or truth, or wisdom in the heights
above or in the depths beneath, or in
the Heavens, or in the Heaven of
Heavens, or in the immensity of space,
or in the eternal ages of duration, but
what we shall comprehend and know ;
then there will be no Being or Beings
in existence that will know one parti-
cle more than what we know : then
our knowledge, and wisdom, and
power, will be infinite ; and cannot,
from thenceforth, be increased or ex-
panded in the least degree : then we
shall be Gods, because all the fulness
of God will dwell within us.
96. It has been most generally be-
lieved that the Saints will progress in
knowledge to all eternity : But when
they become one with the Father and
Son, and receive a fulness of their glory,
that will be the end of all progression
in knowledge, because there will be
nothing more to be learned. The
Father and the Son do not progress in
knowledge and wisdom, because they
already know all things past, present,
and to come. All that become like
the Father and Son will know as much
as they do, and consequently will learn
no more. The Father and Son, and
all who are like them and one with
them, already know as much as any
Beings in existence know, or ever can
know.
9 7 . In the twenty-second paragraph of
this article we showed that there could
not possibly be but one God, so far as
the attributes are concerned, but so far
as it regards persons, that there were
an immense number of Gods. Now
we wish to be distinctly understood
that each of these personal Gods has
equal knowledge with all the rest ;
there are none among them that are
in advance of the others in knowledge ;
though some may have been Gods as
many millions of years, as there are
particles of dust in all the universe,
yet there is not one truth that such
are in possession of but what every
other God knows. They are all equal
in knowledge, and in wisdom, and in
the possession of all truth. None of
these Gods are progressing in knowl-
edge : neither can they progress in the
acquirement of any truth.
98. Some have gone so far as to say
that all the Gods were progressing in
truth, and would continue to progress
to all eternity, and that some were far
in advance of others : but let us exam-
ine, for a moment, the absurdity of
such a conjecture. If all the Gods
will be eternally progressing, then it
follows, that there must be a boundless
infinity of knowledge that no God ever
has attained to, or ever can attain to,
throughout infinite ages to come : this
boundless infinity of knowledge would
be entirely out of the reach and control
of all the Gods; therefore it would
either not be governed at all, or else
be governed by something that was in-
finitely Superior to all the Gods — a
something that had all knowledge, an d
118
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
consequently that could not acquire
more. Have we any right to say that
there is a boundless ocean of materials,
acting under such Superior laws that
none of the Gods to all ages of eter-
nity can be able to understand them ?
We should like to know what Law
Giver gave such superior laws ? If it
be said that the laws were never given,
but that the materials themselves eter-
nally acted according to them. This
would not in the least obviate the dif-
ficulty; for then there would be a
boundless ocean of materials, possess-
ing a knowledge of laws so infinitely
superior to the knowledge of all the
Gods, that none of them, by progress-
ing for eternal ages, could ever reach
it. This is the great absurdity, result-
ing from the vague conjecture that
there will be an endless progression in
knowledge among all the Gods. Such
a conjecture is not only extremely ab-
surd, but it is in direct opposition to
what is revealed.
99. We shall now show from the
revelations given through Joseph, the
Seer, that Gcd and his son, Jesus
Christ, are in possession of all knowl-
edge, and that there is no more truth
for them to learn, and show also that
the Saints will attain to the same ful-
ness and know as much as they know.
First, we will give Enoch's testimony
concerning God, the Father: "And it
came to pass that the God of Heaven
looked upon the residue of the people,
and He wept ; and Enoch bore record
of it, saying, how is it the Heavens weep,
and shed forth their tears as rain upon
the mountains ? And Enoch said unto
the Lord, how is it that thou canst
weep, seeing thou art holy, and from
all eternity to all eternity ? and were it
possible that man could number the
particles of the earth, and millions of
earths like this, it would not be a be-
ginning to the number of thy creations ;
and thy curtains are stretched out still ;
and yet thou art there and thy bosom
is there; and also thou art just; thou
art merciful and kind forever; thou
hast taken Zion to thine own bosom,
from all thy creations, from all eternity
to all eternity, and nought but peace,
justice, and truth, is the habitation of
thy throne ; and mercy shall go before
thy face and have no end : how is it
that thou canst weep?" Connected
with the reply, the Almighty said to
Enoch, "Behold I am God; Man of
Holiness is my name ; Man of Counsel
is my name ; and Endless and Eternal
is my name also. Wherefore, I can
stretch forth mine hands and hold all
the creations which I have made ; and
mine eye can pierce them also." (See
Joseph Smith's inspired translation
of the Book of Genesis, published in
"The Pearl of Great Price.") The
Being whom Enoch here addressed, and
who conversed with him, is represented
in the same connection as the Father
of Christ. This Being is declared to
be "from all eternity," and the creations
that He had made were so immensely
numerous, that the particles of dust in
a million of earths like this, "would
not be a BEGINNING to the number."
This shows that His creations are end-
less, or in other words infinite in num-
ber. Now a finite number cannot, in
one sense, be a beginning to an infinite
number. The vast number of particles
contained in millions of worlds, is still
only a finite number, and is there-
fore limited; but an endless series of
worlds is not limited, and therefore can
have no beginning; and no finite num-
ber, however great, can be the begin-
ning of something that has no begin-
ning. This endless number of worlds
are ail held and controlled by the
power of God, the Father of Christ.
And to show that He has a full
knowledge of them all, He exclaims,
"Aline eye can pierce them also." The
perceptive powers of His vision must
be infinite or he could not look upon
an infinite number of creations. It
shows still further that His " ej~e can
pierce them " all at the same instant ;
for if He were obliged to withdraw
His vision from one in order to look
upon another, He never could have
time to behold them all. If He were
to observe each only for the short pe-
riod of one second, He could not be-
hold even a beginning of the endless
number in as many millions of ages, as
there are particles of dust in the visi-
ble universe; but as His "eye can
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAX.
119
pierce them" all, lie must necessarily
have the power of beholding them all at
the same instant. Moreover, He is
present with them all, for Enoch, in
speaking to the Lord in regard to the
immensity of the numbers of His crea-
tions, exclaims " Thou art there, and
thy bosom is there.''' Being present in
■all, beholding them all, and governing
them all, He must necessarily have a
knowledge of them all. And as the
number of worlds are infinite, His
knowledge must be infinite, and, there-
fore, He knows all things, and can
know no more. This agrees with what
this same Being said to Moses.
"And God spake unto Moses, saying,
Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty,
aud Endless is my name, for I am
without beginning of days or end of
years ; and is not this Endless ? And,
behold, thou art my son, wherefore
look, and I will show thee the work-
manship of mine hands, but not all, for
my works are without end, and also my
words, for they never cease; wherefore
no man can behold all my works, ex-
cept he behold all my glory ; and no
man can behold all my glory, and af-
terwards remain in the flesh. And I
have a work for thee, Moses, my son ;
and thou art in the similitude of mine
Only Begotten; and mine Only Begot-
ten is and shall be the Saviour, for he
is full of grace and truth; but there is
no God besides me, and all things are
present with vie, for I knoie them all?
(See "Pearl of Great Price.") Here
the Father of Christ declares that His
■"works are without end," that "all
things are present" with Him, and
that He knows them all.
The same idea is conveyed in another
revelation, as follows: "Judgment go-
•eth before the face of nim who sitteth
upon the throne, and governeth and
executeth all things ; He comprehendeth
all things, and all things are before
Him, and all things are round about
Him; and He is above all things, and
in all things, and is through all things,
and is round about all things; and all
things are by Him, and of Him, even
God, forever and ever." (Doctrine and
Covenants, sec. 7, par. 10.) As "He
eomprehendeth all things," His knowl-
edge must be infinite; therefore, the
vague conjecture that God, the Father,
can progress eternally in knowledge, is,
as we have shown, not only absurd, but
directly opposed to the revelations
which He has given.
100. We shall next prove by the
new revelations that the Only Begot-
ten Son is in possession of equal know-
ledge with the Father. "And I, John,
saw that He (Christ) received not of
the fulness at the first, but received
grace for grace ; and He received not
of the fulness at first, but continued
from grace to grace, until He received
a fulness, and thus He was called the
Son of God, because He received not
of the fulness at first." (Doc. and Cov.,
Sec. 83 : Par. 2.) What was this ful-
ness here mentioned \ Jesus answers
this question, " I am the Spirit of truth,
and John bore record of me, saying,
He received a fulness of truth, yea even
of ALL truths But what is truth?
" Truth is the knowledge of things
as they are, and as they were, and
as they arc to come." (Par. 4.) John
was not satisfied with telling us that
Jesus received a fulness of truth, but
repeats the idea, "yea, even of all
truth," or in other words, He received
a fulness of the knowledge of all " things
as they are, and as they were, and as
they are to come." No power of lan-
guage could be able to express the idea
in clearer or more forcible terms.
And now we ask, is there any other
truth or knowledge in existence that
Jesus could learn ? We fearlessly an-
swer, No. A fulness of all truth em-
braces, first, a knowledge of all " things
as they are " in their present condition,
or in other words, a knowledge of all
the worlds that now exist throughout
the boundless immensity of space, and
of all the materials of nature, whether
organized or unorganized, and of all
their relations, and dependencies, and
laws, and operations, whether animate
or inanimate, intelligent or unintelli-
gent; it embraces a knowledge of
every thought and desire, of every feel-
ing and emotion, that exists among all
the countless swarms of living beings
in all worlds ; it grasps within its infi-
nite capacity the present state of every
120
THE PRE-EXrSTENCE OF MAN.
individual particle, its properties and
qualities in all planets and suns, and
systems, and universes in the boundless
heights and depths of infinity itself.
But this is not all ; it takes in the past
as well as the present ; a fulness of all
truth, embraces an endless duration
that is past — a boundless ocean of
space — an infinity of materials — the
eternal and unceasing operations of
each particle — a knowledge of the
exact condition of the universe as a
whole, and in all its parts in every suc-
cessive instant from the present back
through endless ages without begin-
ning. But we must not stop here ;
the fulness of all truth embraces a
knowledge of all things to come ; of all
worlds that shall be organized, redeem-
ed, and glorified; of all the eternal
laws, operations, and changes of every
particle of substance in existence in
every successive moment throughout
eternal ages that will have no end.
This, in connection with the present
and the past, is what constitutes " all
truth'1'' — this is, the infinite knowledge
dwelling in Christ; and this is what
He received when a fulness was given
unto Him. John informs us of the
period when this fulness was granted.
"And I, John, bare record, and lo ! the
Heavens were opened, and the Holy
Ghost descended upon Him in the form
of a dove, and sat upon Him, and there
came a voice out of Heaven, saying,
this is my beloved Son. And I, John,
bare record that He received a fulness
of the glory of the Father ; and He re-
ceived all power, both in Heaven and
on earth, and the glory of the Father
was with Him, for He dwelt in Him."
(Par. 2.) It is this fulness of truth
that is God, and that is personified and
called by the different names which
the Lord has appropriated to Himself:
it is this fulness of truth that consti-
tutes the one only true and living God,
and besides Him there is no God. He
dwells in countless myriads of temples,
and is in all worlds at the same instant.
He is in all, and over all, and through
all things, and the power by which
they are governed. He is in the per-
sonage of the Father in all of his ful-
ness, even the Spirit of truth. God is
Truth, and Truth is God, and the ma-
terial universe is His tabernacle ; men
are designed to be his tabernacles
or temples, if they will receive Him.
Jesus says, " I am in the Father, and
the Father in me, and the Father and
I are one : the Father, because He gave
me of His fulness." (Par. 1.) Jesus
was called the Son "because he re-
ceived not of the fulness at the first ;"
and he was called the Father because
he afterwards did receive it. Thus the
name of Father is given to the Son
not because of the tabernacle, but be-
cause of the fulness of truth, which is
the Father dwelling therein.
101. We shall now proceed to show
from new revelations that the Saints
are to have equal knowledge with the
Father and Son. We now only know
in part ; so far as truth dwells in us,
so far the Father and Son dwell with-
in us. Hear what Jesus says : " Be-
hold, ye are little children and ye can-
not bear all things now ; ye must grow
in grace and in the knowledge of the
truth. Fear not, little children, for
you are mine, and I have overcome
the world, and you are of them that
my Father hath given me ; and none
of them that my Father hath given
me shall be lost : and the Father and
I are one : I am in the Father and the
Father in me ; and inasmuch as ye
have received me, ye are in me and I
in you. Wherefore I am in your
midst, and I am the good Shepherd,,
and the Stone of Israel. He that
buildeth upon this rock shall never
fall, and the day cometh that you shall
hear my voice, and see me, and know
that I am." (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 1 1 :
Par. 8.) We are in this revelation
represented as only little children, not
able, as yet, to bear all things, but are
commanded to grow in grace and in
truth ; and are told that inasmuch as
we had received Him we were in Him,
and He in us. As the Father and Son
are called Truth, inasmuch as we
receive truth, they dwell within us.
Where only a small degree of light
and truth dwells within us, there only
a small portion of the Father and Son
abide in us ; as we increase from grace
to grace, and from truth to truth, so
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAX.
121
do we in like manner inherit greater,
and still greater, portions of God, and
when we receive a fulness of all truth,
then all the fulness of God dwells in
us, even the Father and Son. The ful-
ness of all Truth in us will make us
Gods, equal in all things with the Per-
sonages of the Father and the Son ;
and we could not he otherwise than
equal, for He is the same God who
dwells in us that dwells in them ; in-
stead of dwelling in two tahernack's,
under the names of the Father and
Son, He will then dwell in the addi-
tional tahernacles of the Saints. And
wherever He dwells in fulness, there
would necessarily he equality, in wis-
dom, power, glory, and dominion.
102. We will quote another extract
in order to show how we are to attain
this fulness. "And it shall come to
pass, that if you are faithful, you shall
receive the fulness of the record of
John. 1 give unto you these sayings
that you may understand and know
how to worship, and know what you
worship, that you may come unto the
Father in my name, and in due time
receive of His fulness, for if you keep
my commandments you shall receive
of His fulness, and be glorified in me
as I am in the Father; therefore, I say
unto you, you shall receive grace for
grace." (Doc. and Cov., sec. 83 : par.
3.) The fulness is to be obtained on
condition of keeping His command-
ments. That we are to receive a ful-
ness in the same sense that He received
it, is evident from the fact that when
we obtain that blessing, Jesus says,
that we should be glorified in Him as
He was in the Father. In the next
paragraph we have a still stronger evi-
dence, Jesus says, "John bore record
of me saying, He received a fulness of
truth, yea, even of all truth, and no
man receiveth a fulness unless he keep-
eth His commandments. He that
keepeth His commandments receiveth
truth and light, until he is glorified in
truth and knoweth all things." This
is as plain as language can make it.
When this promise is realized, the
Saints will know all things past, pre-
sent, and to come, and there will be no
Being in existence that will be in ad-
vance of them in knowledge and wis-
dom. Again, Jesus says, " If your eye
be single to my glory, your whole bodies
shall be filled with light, and there
shall be no darkness in you, and that
body which is filled with light com-
prehendeth all things." And still
again, " The day shall come when you
shall comprehend even God; being
quickened in Him and by Him." (Doc.
and Cov. 7 : 12, 18.) It is not neces-
sary to multiply passages, for the reve-
lations, both ancient and modern, are
very full upon this point. Enough has
been quoted to demonstrate that the
light of the Saints will grow brighter
and brighter until the perfect day at
which time their light will be full and
cannot from thenceforth be increased
in brilliancy. How much more satis-
factory it is to the mind to contem-
plate millions on millions of glorified
worlds, each peopled with myriads of
Beings filled with all the fulness of God
or Truth, than it is to suppose them all
progressing in knowledge without a
possibility of ever attaining to a fulness
worlds without end. This perfection
and equality in knowledge among the
Gods of all ages and worlds, serve to
produce a perfect oneness among them
all. Having equal knowledge, they
would of course have equal wisdom
and equal power, and would act with
the most perfect union, and harmony,
and consert in all things. But what
inextricable difficulties and confusion
there would be, if they differed in
knowledge and all of them were pro-
gressing. The oneness, so necessary
for the peace and good order of the
Heavenly worlds, could not exist ; one
for the want of the requisite knowledge
would undo what another of superior
knowledge had done: upon the pro-
gressing principle, they never could be
made perfect in one, worlds without
eud. Thus we have abundantly proved
that the capacities of man are not only
eternal, but infinite.
(To be continued.)
122
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
(Continued.)
The object of laws is to prohibit
-every practice which is calculated to
injure individuals or society. But in
what respect are individuals or society
injured by the practice of a plurality
of wives ? We answer, in no respect
whatever. The objector may say that
such a practice is calculated in some
instances to produce poverty and
bring distress upon the family, and,
therefore, should be considered crimi-
nal, and prohibited by law. We reply,
that there are many practices which
bring poverty and distress, and yet
those practices are perfectly lawful.
For instance, the slave holder may re-
duce himself to poverty, by accumu-
lating slaves, and by a mismanagement
of them. Would the Southern States
consider this a crime ? Would they
prohibit by law the purchase of slaves,
because, in some instances it reduced
the purchaser to poverty and brought
distress upon himself and family ? And
again ; a man may bring poverty and
distress upon himself and family by
unwisely employing mechanics, clerks,
day laborers, (fee. Would any of the
States or Territories consider this crimi-
nal ? Would they enact laws to pro-
hibit the hiring of mechanics and la-
borers, because, in some instances, it
reduces to poverty ? Another instance ;
many persons by marrying one wife
reduce themselves from a state of
wealth to abject poverty, yet no State
would, for such a reason, denounce the
marriage of one wife as criminal and
prohibit it by law. We might mul-
tiply any amount of instances, where
poverty and distress are brought upon
families by the practice of things which
are perfectly justifiable by the law.
Because a plurality of wives may, in
some instances, reduce a family to pov-
erty, is no reason, therefore, why it
should be prohibited by law, any more
than thousands of other practices which
may produce the same results. But
in the most of cases, the plurality sys-
tem would have a contrary tendency :
instead of diminishino- the wealth of a
family it would increase it. A large
number, bound together by the strong
ties of family affection, and taking
hold of business in a united capacity,
will be able, most frequently, to ac-
complish more than the same number
of individuals acting separately, and
governed only by individual interest.
A union of interest and action is ad-
mitted by all to be more powerful in
its results, than disunion. A numerous
family of children are calculated to ac-
cumulate wealth, or to accomplish any
other object by their united energy,
more than a small family. Hence, the
Psalmist says, " Children are an heri-
tage of the Lord." Happy is the man
that hath his quiver full of them :
they shall not be ashamed, but they
shall speak with the enemies in the
gate" (Ps. 127.) Instead of a large
family being a disadvantage in point
of wealth or strength, they are of great
advantage. Therefore, so far as this
cause has any bearing, it would be
more just for the States to prohibit the
one-wife system, than to prohibit the
system of plurality.
Sometimes objections are urged
against the plurality system, by saying,
that it takes away the rights of women,
and, therefore, it should be prohibited
by law. But what rights of women
does it take away ? If several women
voluntarily and from their own choice,
and with the consent of their relatives,
wish to unite their destinies with one
man, what rights have been taken
away ? what injuries have been sus-
tained either by themselves or by so-
ciety in general ? We answer, none at
all. On the other hand, the rights of
women are destroyed and taken from
them in prohibiting them by law to
have the man of their choice: they
are compelled, by legislative enact-
ments, to relinquish all hopes of mar-
rying a man upon whom their affec-
tions are placed, and obliged, if they
marry at all, to go contrary to every
feeling of their nature — to be united
with one for whom they have no love.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
123
How many thousands of women there [
are who would rather remain single all
their days, than to accept the otters of
many profligate young men for whom
they entertain no other feelings but
those of disgust. Could these same
women have their rights which natu-
rally belong to them, but which our
illiberal State governments have de-
prived them of, they would unite their
destinies with good men, and be infi-
nitely more happy under the plurality
system, than they would be to remain
in a state of celibacy, or to be united
with some wicked profligate. Give
women their rights; let them marry
the man of their choice. AYhere pure
affection exists, there let them consu-
mate that effection by freely uniting
themselves in the sacred bonds of mat-
rimony with the man whom they love,
and who loves them sufficiently to
make them the partners of his bosom
for life. Any thing short of this is
illiberal and destroys the rights of
women.
It is said that plurality destroys the
rights of the first wife, and, therefore,
should not be tolerated by law. This
depends upon circumstances. If a man
has been foolish enough to make a con-
tract with a woman previous to their
marriage, that he will never many
another while she lives, then it would
be taking away her rights to violate
that contract without her consent.
Such a man, under such a contract,
should not be permitted by the laws
of the States to break his agreement,
for in so doing, he would take away
the rights which he has guaranteed to
her. But if a man marry a woman
without binding himself by such aeon-
tract, or if he marry her with an un-
derstanding that he can marry others
wdien he thinks proper so to do, then
there are no rights of the first wife
taken away, nor no contracts broken.
The first wife, under these circumstan-
ces, enjoys all the rights that she had
any reason to expect. When she gave
herself to her husband, it was not by
compulsion ; she freely and volunta-
rily consented to be his, with the full
understanding that he might marry
others, whenever he chose. A woman,
under these circumstances is divested
of no rights only what she has volun-
tarily surrendered. She prefers rather
to be united with such a man, though
she may share but a measure of his
attention, than to live a life of celibacy
or be obliged to marry one whom she
loves less. Therefore the objection
against plurality upon this ground is
wholly without foundation.
Another objection is urged against
plurality by pretending that it corrupts
the morals of society, and, therefore,
it is argued that it should be consider-
ed a crime, and be prohibited by law.
But Ave ask what morals of society
does it corrupt? Morality is only
another name for virtue, goodness,
righteousness. Immorality is its op-
posite— that is, vicious, evil, unrighte-
ous. To be moral is to be innocent of
crime : to be immoral is to be guilty
of crime. It can neither be shown
from reason nor the word of God that
plurality is criminal, and hence it can-
not be immoral, and therefore the mo-
rals of society are not in the least en-
dangered by its practice. On the con-
trary, plurality is a great and powerful
antidote against immorality. How
many hundreds of thousands of women
there are, who, in consequence of hav-
ing no opportunities of marriage, yield
themselves up to a life of profligacy,
and become notoriously immoral and
unvirtuous. If these same females had
not been deprived of the rights which
all should enjoy under our glorious
Constitution, they might have united
themselves to some virtuous good men,
and been happy as their second or
third wives, and thus been saved from
the temptations and evils into which
they have fallen. Look at the mis-
ery and wretchedness of thousands
of females in almost every city in
America and Europe — inquire into the
causes of their shameful and criminal
course of life, and it will be found that
in nine cases out of ten, they were
driven to that state of degradation for
the want of a protector — a husband in
whom they could centre their affections,
and on whom they could rely for a
support. Would it not have been far
better for these females to have been
124
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
honorably connected in marriage, ac-
cording to the plurality system, than
to have plunged themselves into the
vortext of irretreivable ruin? What
an immense amount of immorality, and
consequent suffering would have been
prevented, had the State governments
not been influenced by the corrupt
traditions of Apostate Christianity in
prohibiting plurality and denouncing
it criminal ! But this order of things
would not only prevent females from
becoming public prostitutes, but would
promote virtue among the males. Be-
cause of the vast numbers of unvirtu-
ous females with which the nations are
cursed, many young men neglect mar-
riage, and seek to gratify their sexual
propensities by unlawful and sinful
connections. If no public female pros-
titutes existed, or if they rarely could
be found, the natural consequences
would be, that young men, instead of
abandoning themselves to prostitution,
would seek to unite themselves in honor-
able marriage with the partners of their
choice. Plurality, therefore, not only
would be a preventative against female
prostitution, but would diminish the
causes or means of prostitution on the
part of the males. Young men aban-
don themselves to vice and immorality
in proportion to the amount of temp-
tation and evil influences with which
they are surrounded. Diminish the
causes and the effects are diminished
also : and if the cause be destroyed the
effect ceases. Let our State laws per-
mit plurality, and it will seldom be the
case that a female will yield to pros-
titution, prefering lawful marriage to a
life of degradation and suffering. The
army of degraded females, receiving
little or no accession to their numbers,
would soon be diminished and eventu-
ally destroyed by their own folly and
wickedness, and thus, the causes of
temptation having, in a great degree,
ceased, young men would walk in a
more healthy atmosphere, and not In-
constantly allured, as they are now,
from the paths of virtue. Plurality
would also diminish greatly the temp-
tations which beset the paths of mar-
ried men, as well as those who are
young ; they would no longer be under
the temptation to keep a mistress se-
cretly, and to break the marriage cove-
nant, and thus sin against their wives
and against God. How many thou-
sands there are who practice this great
abomination. And why do they do it ?
Because they are compelled by our
bigoted State laws to confine them-
selves to one wife. Had they the lib-
erty which four-fifths of the other na-
tions have, and which the Bible and
our National Constitution guarantee,
they could marry a plurality of wives,
and be compelled to support them and
their children, instead of having their
secret mistresses, and turning them
away when they get tired of them.
Which, think you, a woman would
prefer ? Would she rather live in
adultery with a man, subject, at any
moment, to be turned away, penny] ess
and unprotected, or to be lawfully
united with him in honorable wedlock ?
Would she not infinitely prefer the
latter to the former ? If plurality ex-
isted, it wrould be very seldom that
women would consent to be mistresses.
Plurality, therefore, instead of injuring
the morals of society, would have an
effect directly the reverse ; it would
greatly purify society from the immo-
ralities which now exist. How long
shall the State governments be cursed
with such illiberal laws ! When will
the people awake to a consciousness of
their duties, and repeal those acts
which have resulted in so much evil !
When will they learn to be freemen ac-
cording to the spirit of the Constitution,
and no longer fetter themselves with
the chains of superstition, handed down
from the dark ages of Popery ! Arise,
Americans, arise ! break every yoke
that tends to bondage ! Assume the
dignified position of American citizens !
Maintain inviolate the choice liberties
of your country — the liberties so dearly
purchased by your illustrious ancestors !
let not the galling chains of priest-
craft bind the nation's conscience ! let
not the bigoted traditions and customs
of Apostate religions influence your
legislative departments ! let not the
judgment and wisdom of your great
statesmen be swayed from the impor-
tant principles of liberty, so dear to
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
125
every American heart ! let no laws be
enacted, denouncing as crime, that
which reason, morality, and the word
of God, approve, as a virtue ! let no
laws prohibit you from the enjoyments,
arising- from domestic relations which
are reasonable, moral, virtuous, pure,
and good ! If your fathers have been
in bondage to Romish superstitions,
remember that you are free ! Yes, free
from religious intolerance ! free from
all nations under Heaven ! free to enjoy
all blessings, unmolested, which God
has ordained for man, unless you, your-
selves, prefer laws tending to bondage,
rather than liberty !
Another objection to plurality is
made by pretending that it is calcula-
ted to excite jealousies in families, and,
therefore, it is argued to be criminal,
and should be prohibited by law. If
several women mutually agree to be
the wives of the same man, and he
treats them with impartiality, we see
no cause existing for jealousy. Each
receives all the attention which she ex-
pected to receive, when she entered
into the matrimonial contract. If
jealousies should arise, they would be
entirely of a different nature from those
occasioned by unlawful steps taken by
a husband. If a husband violate the
laws of virtue by unlawful connections,
the wife loses confidence in him ; aud
when confidence is gone, peace and
quietness are gone, and the foundation
of happiness is destroyed in the family.
Not, so, when jealousies arise between
members of the same family. Each
wife knows that the other wives are as
much entitled to the attention of the
husband as she, herself; she knows
that such attentions are not criminal,
therefore, she does not lose confidence
in him ; though she may consider him
partial, in some respects, yet she has
the consolation to know that his at-
tentions towards them are strictly vir-
tuous. Confidence being retained, the
elements of happiness are retained.
Jealousies, arising from unvirtuous con-
duct, are mingled with a consciousness
of the guilt of the individual ; while
those aiising from the other cause have
no such distressing reflections ; the first
is cruel as the grave, knawing, like the
worm that never dies, at the very heart-
strings of enjoyment and peace, while
the latter is only a partial transitory
evil which is speedily dissipated by the
kindness and attention of the husband.
Plurality, as we have already stated,
is a great preventative to unvirtuous
connections, and therefore is a remedy
against the jealousies arising from such
causes. And as for the other kind of
jealousy, if it should be stigmatized by
that name, it is of trivial importance ;
like the jealousies which frequently
arise between children, it is soon gone.
This kind of jealousy is not the result
of plurality, but a result of partiality
or supposed partiality. If plurality
should be prohibited on account of
jealousies which may arise, monogamy
or the one-wife system should be
prohibited on account of the still
greater jealousies which may arise
for fear the husband may keep his
secret mistresses, as many thousands
do. These kind of jealousies work far
greater evils in society, than what the
other kind can possibly do. If the
great object be to put a stop by law
to the evils arising from jealousies, let
laws be enacted, requiring man to have
a plurality of wives, or else none at all;
prohibit the one wife practice, and you
will accomplish much more than you
do by prohibiting plurality. But we
say let no prohibitory laws be passed
in regard to how many wives a man
may, or may not have ; leave every
man free in this respect, and in a very
few years, you would see a great re-
formation in the morals of the countrv;
you would see not one-tenth part of
the prostitution that is seen now ; you
would see females fulfilling the noble
purpose of their creation, instead of
being abandoned prostitutes, houseless,
homeless, and childless, going down to
their graves in wretchedness and mis-
ery, uncared for and unlamented.
Another objection presented against
plurality is, that it is contrary to the
customs of American and European na-
tions, and for this cause should be con-
sidered criminal, and prohibited by
legislative enactments. In reply to this
objection, we say that there are many
things which are entirely contrary to
12G
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
the general customs of the people,
which are not criminal, and which
would be a violation of the Consti-
tution to prohibit. The Shakers be-
lieve in dancing in their religious as-
semblies on the Sabbath day; this
practice is wholly derogatory to the
customs of the nation. Would it be
lawful and right to enact laws, pro-
hibiting this practice of the Shakers,
on the ground of its being contrary to
custom ? Another class of individuals
believe in the abominable practice of
sprinkling infants, actually practicing
this abomination in the name of the
Lord. This is entirely contrary to the
customs of the great majority of this
nation. Must this class be prohibited
from this practice, because it is con-
trary to the custom of the nation?
The Shakers, and some other commu-
nities, have adopted the ancient prac-
tice of having all their property as
common stock: this is also entirely
different from the general custom of
the nation ; must it, for this reason, be
prohibited by law ? The Roman Catho-
lics practice many ceremonies and or-
dinances which the great majority of
the nation do not practice. Must their
customs be denounced as criminal and
be prohibited by law, because they are
different from those of the nation?
Each society in the United States have
some practices which agree with the
national customs, and some which are
p3culiar to themselves. Would it ac-
coid with the spirit of the Constitu-
tion to compel each society to cease
all of their peculiar practices, because
they were not national customs ? The
Church of the Latter-Day Saints prac-
tice in many respects according to
national customs, and in other respects
thev have their peculiar customs, like
all other societies. It matters not how
much the peculiar customs of a so-
ciety may differ from the national ones,
providing that they are not immoral,
or criminal, or calculated to injure so-
ciety. The peculiar customs of plu-
rality, practiced by some in Utah, in
no wav interferes with the rights of
anv one : it is in no way immoral ; it
in " no wav injuries the parties them-
selves, or any one else ; it is in no way
unscriptural ; it is in no way conflicting
with the Constitution ; it is in no way
violating any of the laws of Utah, or
any other laws to which the citizens of
that Territory are ameniable. There-
fore, there is no reason whatever for
calling it a crime, or for passing legis-
lative enactments against it.
It is difficult for us to imagine, why
State Governments ever considered it
necessary to pass laws confining their
citizens to one wife. We can see no
causes or necessity whatever for such
laws. They are laws founded wholly
on custom. Because the European na-
tions, from whom they originated, have
been bound down under these illiberal
institutions, and have had a yoke
placed upon their necks by priestcraft,
and by a union of the ecclesiastical
with the civil powers, our fathers could
not all at once free themselves from
these traditionary superstitions. They
must follow the customs of their fa-
thers in some respect, however incon-
sistant they may be. How true is the
sentiment that a people who have been
long in bondage, or under the influence
of erroneous traditions, can only free
themselves by degrees. We see this
verified in the American nation : they
have broken the yoke of tyranny and
oppression, and have planted the germs
of liberty upon their soil ; they call
themselves free, but they are only free
in part. Their Legislative departments
are still tinctured with priestcraft, or
with the illiberal sentiments imbibed
by our fathers under the oppressive in-
stitutions of the European powers.
This is exemplified by their still fol-
lowing those governments in the pro-
hibition of plurality. The States can
render no reason why they follow this
erroneous tradition, only to say, " it
was the custom of our fathers." Is it
not time that legislators and statesmen
should begin to inquire into the rea-
son of their laws ? It is not sufficient
to satisfy the advancing spirit of the
ao-e, to tell us that certain laws are
enacted, because they are sanctioned
by the customs of the dark and tyranni-
cal ages. It is not enough to merely
say, we denounce an act as criminal,
because the European nations denounce
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
127
it. If the sons of American freedom
are to be prohibited from certain prac-
tices which they may consider perfectly
innocent, they wish to be informed
wherein those practices are criminal :
they do not wish to be brought into
bondage blind-folded. Neither do they
wish to elect legislators to palm upon
them the impositions of Popery, be-
cause they are customary among other
nations. We wish some of our wise
statesmen, or some other competent
persons, would take up the subject of
plurality and show wherein it is im-
moral, or unscriptural, or criminal.
Upon this subject, the people want
arguments, not denunciations; reason,
not sophistry; evidence, not popular
traditions or customs; they want a
clear, lucid demonstration that the
practice is evil. If there are no per-
sons competent to the task, they will
signify it, by continuing to follow the
old custom of denunciation, or at least,
by their silence.
The States should not only permit
plurality, but enact wise and judicious
laws regulating the same. The hus-
band should be compelled by law to
provide for his different wives and chil-
dren, the same as if he had but one.
The law should make provisions for
each of his wives and children upon
his decease, to inherit a share of the
property. The law should consider
him bound for life to each of his wives
the same as if he had married but one ;
he should not be considered divorced
from either, only through due course
of law ; and adultery should be the
only crime, as our Savour has said, for
which a man should be justified in
putting away either of his wives. If,
instead of abolishing plurality, the
States would regulate the same under
good and wholesome laws, they would
make it far better for the female por-
tion of the community ; and thus in
time would redeem the nation from the
terrible evils of prostitution with which
they are now cursed. We have in
riage in relation to the divine govern-
ment of Heaven, we say, as we have
already expressed ourselves, that no
man in this nation, nor any other, has
a divine right to marry even one wife,
much less a plurality, until he becomes
righteous enough to bring up his chil-
dren according to the law of Heaven;
and to save himself and his children
in the eternal worlds. There is a broad
distinction to be made in relation to
this thing, between the divine govern-
ment and human governments ; and
they should in no Avise be confounded
in one. Church and State are with
the American nation entirely distinct.
By the laws of the church the wicked
should have no right nor title to the
divine institution of marriage ; by the
laws of the State they should have the
right of marrying as many wives as
they please; it is a privilege which
they have a right to claim, accoiding
to the spirit and genius of the Con-
stitution ; it is a violation of the prin-
ciples of liberty, contained in that
sacred document, to limit them to one,
when two or more are just as honora-
ble as one. It is true, God has noth-
ing to do with their marriages while
in a state of wickedness. \\ hether
they have one wife or a dozen, it is all
illegal so far as God is concerned.
But to be consistent with the form cf
government which the nation has
adopted, there should be no restric-
tions in regard to the number.
There is an entire distinction in the
Territory of Utah, as in all other Ter-
ritories, between the civil government,
and the various forms of church gov-
ernments. The civil government cf
Utah, has not seen proper to abridge
the liberties of its citizens in regard to
the number of wives that they may
have. Therefore, the Presbyterians,
the Baptists, the Methodists, the Lat-
ter-Day Saints, and all other denomi-
nations, or individuals, whether be-
lievers in any creed or unbelievers, wl.o
may feel disposed to settle in Utah,
these arguments set forth what should J have, each and all of them, the liberty
be tolerated in regard to plurality, so , of marrying as many wives as they
far as the genius of our Government j think proper, and the civil government
and our legislative enactments are con- will not interfere with them. But if
cerned. But when we consider mar- 1 the Latter-Dav Saints, or any other
128
CONTENTS.
denomination in that Territory, feel it
their duty to limit the members of
their respective churches to one wife,
or to none at all, (like the Shakers,)
under the penalty of the disfellowship
of their church, they have the most
perfect liberty there, as in all other
territories, so to do. If any member
of the Latter-Day ' Saints should not
be permitted by his church to marry
two wives, he could still, by rebelling
against the rules of his church, go and
marry two under the civil law ; and
the Latter-Day Saint Church could do
nothing with him, only to expel him
from their fellowship. Any denomi-
nation in any State or Territory have
the most undoubted rights to prohibit
marriage altogether so far as their
church is concerned; but they have
no right to interfere with the civil laws,
regulating marriages.
The denomination called the Latter-
Day Saints in Utah have no more lib-
erties or privileges granted to them by
the civil power than any other denomi-
nation who may choose to settle there.
If they constitute the majority of the
population they can elect such indi-
viduals as they see proper to the legis-
lative departments ; this is not oppres-
sion, but is precisely according to the
practice of all the other Territorial
and State governments. The majority
rules — the majority elects : this is the
very essence of our national institu-
tions. Utah is not an exception : she
is governed, in all respects, by the civil
power, and not by the ecclesiastical :
the latter is confined wholly to the
churches of the different religious so-
cieties who have or may settle in the
Territory, while the former regulates
all by the civil laws. The Latter-Day
Saints in the capacity of a church
have no more voice in the government
of Utah, than the Methodists or any
other religious denomination. They,
as well as all other societies, are obliged
to submit to the civil powers.
It is to be hoped that the legislative
department in Utah will never be so
trammelled by the customs of the
other territories as to infringe upon the
rights of the domestic relations, limit-
ing and abridging them according to
the erroneous superstitions handed
down to our day by the nations of
Apostate Christendom. It is further to
be hoped, that they will carefully ex-
amine the nature of all customs and
practices which have been denounced
criminal, and wisely and impartially
distinguish between what is in re-
ality criminal, and what is, because of
custom, erroneously called so. Such
are the kind of legislators that ought
to be sought for in every State and
Territory.
We have, in the foregoing, answered
all the objections against plurality,
based on the supposition of its being
criminal ; and have clearly shown that
they are without foundation. We
shall next proceed to show that plu-
rality of wives is among the greatest
blessings bestowed upon the righteous.
It is evidently a great blessing to be
entrusted with power and authority to
rule and govern, according to the law
of righteousness. God is the supreme
Ruler of the universe. He rules all
beings and things by laws, through
which His wisdom and power are made
manifest. He exercises supreme power
and authority, because He has supreme
wisdom and knowledge. It is His
glory and happiness to govern all things.
If He were deprived of the privilege of
governing, He would be deprived of
his glory. So it is with all His off-
spring: they are happy and glorious
in proportion to the amount of divine
authority and power with which they
are intrusted, providing that they ex-
ercise the same in righteousness.
{To be continued.)
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 113
Celestial Marriage 122
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published bt Onso* Pratt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
5
TMM
111 ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah win, 3.
Vol. I.
SEPTEMBER, 1853.
No. 9.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
(Concluded.)
103. An infinite quantity of self-
moving intelligent matter, possessed of
infinite capacities, and existing eter-
nally, must have been engaged in an
endless series of operations. It matters
not how far we may, in the imagina-
tion of our minds, go back into the in-
finite depths of past duration, we are
still obliged to admit, that every par-
ticle of matter which now exists, existed
then ; that it was then capable of self-
motion ; that it was then capable of
exercising the eternal capacities of its
nature, and of progressing onward and
upward, until it should be perfected in
all the fulness of wisdom, knowledge,
and truth. An endless series of ope-
rations excludes a first operation. If
it be assumed that there was a period
when matter first began to act, then
the succession of acts would be finite
and not endless, and there would have
been an endless duration, preceding
that first act, during which, all things
would have been in a quiescent state,
or state of absolute rest. To suppose
that all the spiritual matter of the uni-
verse, which is now so powerful and
active, has once been eternally at rest,
would seem to be absurd in the high-
est degree. Every thing now is in
motion ; every thing is highly active :
every thing is acting under some law,
or guided by some motive or will.
Such a thing as an inactive particle of
matter is not known in the universe.
If all substance once existed eternally
without action, what prompted it to
make the first effort ? How came the
first particle to move itself? Why,
after an endless past duration, should
it all at once, conclude to move ? Why
should intelligent thinking materials,
capable of self-motion, have existed
from all eternity without exercising their
capacities ? No one, therefore, upon
candid reflection, can suppose, for one
moment, that there was a beginning
to the operations or actions of sub-
stance. There could not have been a
first act or first operation. The suc-
cession of acts and operations must
have been endless.
104. Having shown in the preced-
ing paragraph, that there must have
been an endless series of operations
among the self-moving intelligent ma-
terials of nature, let us next inquire
into the nature of these operations.
These operations may have been ex-
tremely simple, or they may have been
abstruse and intricate in their nature :
they may have been the effect of each
individual particle, acting at random
under no particular system of laws, or
they may have been the results of a
combination of large masses of sub-
stances acting under wise and judi-
cious laws : they may have acted in a
disorganized capacity, or they may
130
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OP MAN.
have acted in the capacity of organ-
ized worlds, and personages, and beings,
something similar to what now exists.
Simple operations at random without
law, would exhibit but a small degree
of intelligence ; while operations such
as now exist, would show something
that had infinite wisdom, knowledge,
and power ; in other words, it would
prove the existence of a God. If this
endless series of operations has always
been conducted with the same wisdom
and power which now characterize the
workings of the universe, then there
must have always been a fulness of
knowledge and truth exisiting some-
where, either in organized or disorgan-
ized substances. We cannot prove
from the present appearances of nature
that there has always been a God.
The present exhibitions of nature only
prove that there is now a God, and
that there has been a God for many
ages past, which is clearly proved by
His works, many of which can be
proved to be many thousand years old.
But when we go back to ages still
more remote in antiquity, nature does
not inform us whether there was in
those ages a God, having a fulness of
knowledge, or not. We have been in-
formed in preceding paragraphs, that
men, through obedience, attain to the
fulness of all knowledge and become
Gods. Now there is a time before
each man obtains this fulness which
constitutes him a God. Personal Gods,
then, have a beginning: they exist
first as spirits, then as men clothed with
mortal flesh, then as Gods clothed with
immortal tabernacles. If one God can
have a beginning, the question arises,
May not all other Gods have had a
beginning? The operations and ap-
pearances of the universe only teach
us that there has been a God for a few
ages past; and if we had no other
light, the question would very naturally
occur, was there not a first God ? And
if so, at what period of time did he
attain to a fulness of truth and be-
come God ? What was the condition
of the universe before any of the sub-
stances of nature attained this fulness?
In the absence of revelation in regard
to the past eternity of God, such ques-
tions as the foregoing would unavoida-
bly arise in the mind.
105. If there ever were a period
when none of the substances of nature,
posessed a fulness of truth, then previ-
ously to that period the universe would
have been governed by laws inferior to
those which now obtain. But it seems
altogether unlikely that among an in-
finite quantity of materials, possessing
infinite capacities, there should be none
which had perfected themselves in
knowledge and truth, though they had
had an endless duration in which to
have accomplished it. It seems far
more consistant to believe that infinite
knowledge has from all eternity exist-
ed somewhere, either in organized per-
sonages or in disorganized materials.
106. We shall now prove by reve-
lation given through Joseph, the Seer,
that there has been a God from all
eternity ; or in other wrords, that there
is a God who never had a beginning.
One revelation commences thus :
"Hearken a,nd listen to the voice of
Him who is from all Eternity to all
eternity, the Great I AM, even Jesus
Christ, the light and the life of the
world." (Doc. and Gov. Sec. 59: Par.l.)
Here then is positive proof that Jesus
Christ is from all Eternity. We are
aware that there are some who con-
sider that the words " all Eternity "
have reference to a definite limited
period of time. Such suppose that
there have been many eternities suc-
ceeding each other : if this supposi-
tion be correct, then the period express-
ed by the words ufrom all Eternity "
could not have been without begin-
ning. But it is evident to our mind
that the words were intended to con-
vey the idea of an endless past dura-
tion ; or in other words, a duration
that had no beginning, when speaking
in reference to the light and truth that
dwelt in Him. That this is the true
idea intended to be conveyed, is evident
from other declarations of Christ ; one
of which reads as follows : " Listen to
the voice of Jesus Christ, your Re-
deemer, the Great I AM, whose arm
of mercy hath atoned for your sins."
Among the things revealed in this
revelation, Jesus says, " Unto myself
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
131
my works have no end, NEITHER
BE< I INNING." (Doc. and Cor., Sec.
10 : Par. 1 and 8.) No language could
more plainly prove that Jesus Christ
had no beginning. His" works have
no end, neither beginning." There
never was a period when Christ began
llis works : there never was a first work
that He performed. A series that lias
no beginning can have no first term.
A past succession of works that is end-
less necessarily excludes a first work.
As there cotdd not be a first act, it
shows most clearly that Jesus Christ
must have existed during an endless
succession of ages, and that there
could not be a first age of His exist-
ence. This past endless existence of
Christ has reference to the fulness of
Truth, and Light, and Knowledge
which now dwell in His person.
These attributes are personified and
called God : these had no begin-
ning, while His person did have a
beginning in its organized capacity,
being the "First Born .of every crea-
ture." The attributes of Jesus Christ,
or in other words, the fulness of Truth,
existed for endless ages before His
person was formed. Before the spirit-
ual body or personage of Christ was
born in the heavenly world, there
were innumerable worlds in existence,
each peopled with myriads of person-
ages, and each were filled with all the
fulness of Jesus Christ, or the fulness
of Truth, which is called by various
names, such as, God, the Great I AM,
the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, <fcc.
All these names, as well as the per-
sonal pronouns He, His, and Him, are
applied to the FULNESS OF TRUTH,
wherever it or He may dwell, whether
in one tabernacle or in unnumbered
millions. This Great God — the FUL-
NESS OF TRUTH, can dwell in all
worlds at the same instant — can be
everywhere present — can be in all
things, and round about all things, and
through all things. He is in the per-
sonage of the Father ; He is in the
personage of the Son ; He will be in
the personages of all His Saints when
they receive of His fulness ; and in
fine, He is the only living and true
God, and besides Him there is no God : j
He is the only God worshipped by the
righteous of all worlds ; for He exists
in all worlds, and dwells in all his ful-
ness in countless millions of tabernacles.
He has no beginning, neither have His
works a beginning, but each of His
organized tabernacles had a beginning:
each personal spirit was organized out
of the elements of spiritual matter.
107. Having proved that Jesus
Christ, or the Fulness of Truth, had no
beginning, let us next inquire, AYhether
there always have been personages in
which this fulness dwelt I or whether
it or He dwelt in the unorganized par-
ticles of substance prior to there being
any personages formed ? These are
rather difficult questions to answer. It
is quite probable, that it has been from
all eternity about the same as at pre-
sent ; that there has been an endless
succession of substances, both organ-
ized and unorganized, which have been
exalted and glorified, and have received
a fulness. It is altogether likely,
that there has been an endless succes-
sion of worlds, and an endless succes-
sion of inhabitants who have peopled
those worlds. If so, then there could
not be a first world, nor a first person.
Though each world, and each person
would have a beginning, yet there would
be no beginning to the grand chain of
succession or genealogy. This may be
exemplified, by conceiving the existence
of endless straight lines in boundless
space : conceive each of these lines to
be divided or graduated into an end-
less number of yards. All can at once
see, that there would be a beginning
to each of these yards, but there would
be no beginning to the endless succes-
sion. So, likewise, of endless dura-
tion ; we can conceive of its being
divided into an endless succession
of minutes; each of these minutes
would have a beginning, but there
would be no beginning to the succes-
sion. We have already learned from
revelation that the works of Jesus Christ
had no beginning. Now let us suppose
that each successive work was the or-
ganization of a world and the peopling
of the same. All will at once admit
that each world and the inhabitants
thereof would have a beginning ; but
132
THE TRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
His works, being without a beginning,
there could not be a first world in this
endless succession, nor a first Father in
the endless genealogy.
108. Looking at things through our
imperfect minds, we have been accus-
tomed to suppose that all things which
are connected by a chain of causes and
effects, must eventually terminate in a
First Cause and in a First Effect : for
instance, in tracing genealogies, we go
back from the son to the father, then
to the grandfather, then to the great
grandfather, and thus we trace the
lineage back from generation to gener-
ation until we naturally look for a first
father pertaining to the human race on
this creation, so, likewise, when we trace
the genealogy of our spirits. We were
begotten by our Father in Heaven ;
the person of our Father in Heaven was
begotten on a previous heavenly world
by His Father ; and again, He was be-
gotten by a still more ancient Father ;
and so on, from generation to genera-
tion, from one heavenly world to an-
other still more ancient, until our minds
are wearied and lost in the multiplicity
of generations and successive worlds,
and as a last resort, we wonder in our
minds, how far back the genealogy ex-
tends, and how the first world was
formed, and the first father was begot-
ten. But why does man seek for a
first, when revelation informs him that
God's works are without beginning?
Do you still seek for a first link where
the chain is endless ? Can you con-
ceive of a first year in endless duration ?
Can you grasp within your comprehen-
sion the first mile in an endless right
line ? All these things you will readily
acknowledge have no first : why, then,
do you seek for a first personal Father
in an endless genealogy? or for a, first
effect in an endless succession of effects ?
109. The Fulness of Truth, dwelling
in an endless succession of past genera-
tions, would produce an endless succes-
sion of personal Gods, each possessing
epual wisdom, power, and glory with
all the rest. In worshipping any one
of these Gods we worship the whole,
and in worshipping the whole, we still
worship but one God; for it is the
same God who dwells in them all ; the
personages are only His different dwell-
ing places. After the resurrection,
when the Fulness of Truth or God
dwells in us, it can then be said of us,
as is now said of Christ, that we are
" from all eternity to all eternity ;" it
can then be said of us, that our " works
have no end, neither beginning;" it
can then be said of us, that we are " in
all things, and through all things, and
round about all things ;" it can then
be said of us, that the number of worlds
which we have created are more numer-
ous than the particles of dust in a mil-
lion of earths like this ; yea, that this
would not be a beginning to the num-
ber of our creations ; it can be said of
us, that we are there in all these in-
finity of worlds, and that our bosom is
there. How, inquires the astonished
Saints, can all these things be ? How
can we be from all eternity ? How
can we be omnipresent ? How can our
works be without beginning ? We re-
ply, that this will be true in regard to
the fulness of God that dwells within
us, but not true in regard to our per-
sons ; neither is it true in regard to
any other persons. God is the light
and the life of all things. Our life and
our light are now only a part of God,
but then, in that glorious day, they
will be the whole of God, animating,
and quickening, and glorifying a new
tabernacle. Then wre can say one to
another, I am in you and you are in
me, and we all are one, even one God,
"from everlasting to everlasting." The
Light and Intelligence and Truth which
each Saint will then possess in fulness,
was not created, neither, indeed, can be,
but they were from all eternity; and they
assisted in the formation of all worlds,
and are present in all worlds, govern-
ing and controlling the same. Do we
realize that our very life and being is
constituted and composed of eternal
principles? that the beings which we
call ourselves are only parts of one
eternal whole? that the attributes of
our nature are God's attributes in em-
bryo, placed in new tabernacles where
they are required to improve and per-
fect themselves by cleaving unto the
great fountain of which they are a
part ? Every additional portion of
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
133
light which they receive is an addi-
tional portion of God ; when they are
filled with light, they are filled with
God — that is, God is in them in all of
His fulness, and wherever God is, there
is Almighty power, and Infinite wisdom
and knowledge, and all things are sub-
ject unto Him, and He possesses all
things, and all dominions and worlds
are His, for He made them all. It is
for this reason that each of the Saints
will inherit all tilings, and be equal
not only in power and glory, but also
in dominion. All things present, and
all things to come, will be theirs. All
things present, include all the infinity
of worlds which have been created, re-
deemed, and glorified from all eternity:
all things to come include all the worlds
which will be created, redeemed, and
glorified to all eternity. Each one of
the Saints who receive a fulness of God
will be joint heirs with all the rest in
this great common stock inheritance :
each one possessing the whole. Con-
sequently, they will be equal in domin-
ion as well as equal in knowledge,
power, and glory. This is so fully re-
vealed in revelations, both ancient and
modern, that we deem it unnecessary
to multiply quotations. Indeed, Why
should not the same God in one taber-
nacle inherit just as much as He does
in every other tabernacle ? If men are
tabernacles, and God is the Being who
dwells within them, then this One God
in each tabernacle must of necessity-
possess all things ; for He made them
all.
110. How very different in their
nature is light and truth from substance.
A substance can only be in one place
at a time : while intelligence or truth
can be in all worlds at the same instant.
A substance cannot be divided, and a
part be taken to some other place, with-
out diminishing the original quantity
from which it was taken : while differ-
ent portions of light and truth may be
imparted to other beings in other places
without diminishing in the least the
fountain from which they are derived.
Substances, organized into different
persons on separate worlds, become a
plurality of substances or persons :
while a truth may be imparted to each
one of th'se personages, and still it is
but one truth — a unity and not a plu-
rality of truths. However great the
number of truths which may be im-
parted equally to an infinite number of
personages, still the truths are not in-
creased in number by their increased
number of dwelling places. In all these
characteristics truth and substance
widely differ from each other. As God
is Light and Truth, and Light and
Truth is God, all the characteristics
which belong to one, belong to the
other also. An infinite number of
tabernacles filled with Truth, contains
no more than one filled with the same :
so likewise an infinite number of tab-
ernacles filled with God knows no
more than one knows. Truth is one
Truth though dwelling in millions, so
likewise God is one God though dwell-
ing in countless numbers of tabernacles.
This is the reason why we are so re-
peatedly told in both ancient and
modern revelation, that there is but
one God. And whenever a plurality
of Gods is mentioned we may always
know that the expression has reference
only to the number of tabernacles
where this one only true and living
God dwells.
111. We have dwelt upon this sub-
ject rather longer than what we, at
first, intended, because we consider it a
principle which should be well under-
stood by the Saints, not only for our
own benefit, but that we may be able
to teach others correctly; that when
we are asked for a reason, why we be-
lieve in a plurality of Gods, we may be
able to set forth our views clearly and
plainly in accordance with the revela-
tions which God has given of Himself.
It is for this purpose that we have
dwelt so long upon the pre-existence of
man in order that we may the more
clearly understand, not only our heaven-
ly and God-like origen, but the grand
system of laws by which God origi-
nates and prepares tabernacles for His
own residence in which the fulness of
His wisdom, power, and glory, are
manifested. O how great, and how
marvelous are the ways of God, and
His plans which He has adopted for
the salvation and glorification of His
134
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF MAN.
intelligent offspring ! Who can un-
derstand these things without rejoic-
ing by day and by night ! And who
can understand the works of our God
and the mysteries of His kingdom, un-
less he is enlightened by the light of
the Holy Spirit ! Well did the apos-
tle Paul say, " the natural man know-
eth not the things of God, because
they are spiritually discerned ;" " but
God hath revealed them unto us by
His spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, even the deep things of
God." Well did our Saviour say, that
the Spirit of Truth should guide his
disciples into all Truth — should take of
the things of the Father and should
show them unto his people — should
show them things to come, and thus
make them revelators and prophets.
0 that mankind would consider upon
these things ! 0 that they would
come unto God like men in days
of old, and learn of Him now, as they
did then ! O that they would reflect
upon their heavenly origen, and what
may be their future destiny, if they
would only claim, through obedience
and faith, the high privileges set before
them ! O that they knew what be-
longs to their peace and welfare both
here and hereafter ! but they know
not — they are like the beast that
perisheth, for whom slaughter is pre-
pared, and he knoweth it not : even so,
it is with this generation ; they know
nothing only what they know natu-
rally ; they have denied the necessity
of present revelation, therefore, all
spiritual light and heavenly knowledge
are withheld from them, and they will
bring swift destruction upon them-
selves and perish in their sins, and this
causes my heart to be sorrowful ; and
1 mourn over the hardness of their
hearts and the blindness of their minds
by day and by night ; and I labor and
toil, and also my brethren, to recover
them, but their hearts are fully set
within them to do evil, and they must
soon be ripened for the destructions
decreed upon the nations in the latter
days.
112. We have in this article on pre-
existence traced man back to his ori-
gen in the heavenly world as an infant
spirit ; we have shown that this spirit
was begotten and born by celestial pa-
rents long anterior to the formation of
this creation. We have shown that the
great family of spirits had a probation
and trial before they came here — that
a third part of them fell and were cast
out of Heaven and were deprived of-
fleshly bodies; while the remainder
have come forth in their successive
generations to people this globe : we
have shown that, by keeping this their
second estate, they will be perfected,
glorified, and made Gods like unto their
Father God by whom their spirits were
begotten. The dealing of God to-
wards his children from the time that
they are first born in Heaven, through
all their successive stages of existence,
until they are redeemed, perfected, and
made Gods, is a pattern after which all
other worlds are dealt with. All Gods
act upon the same great general prin-
ciples ; and thus, the course of each God
is one eternal round. There will, of
course, be a variety in all His works, but
there will be no great deviations from
the genera] laws which He has ordained.
The creation, fall, and redemption of
all future worlds with their inhabitants
will be conducted upon the same gen-
eral plan ; so that when one is learned,
the great fundamental principles of the
science of world-making, world-govern-
ing, and world-redemption, will be un-
derstood.
113. The Father of our spirits has
only been doing that which His Pro-
genitors did before Him. Each suc-
ceeding generation of Gods follow the
example of the preceding ones: each
generation have their wives, who raise
up from the fruit of their loins immortal
spirits : when their families become nu-
merous, they organize new worlds for
them, after the former patterns set be-
fore them ; they place their families
upon the same who fall as the inhabi-
tants of previous worlds have fallen ;
they are redeemed after the pattern by
which more ancient worlds have been
redeemed. The inhabitants of each
world have their own personal Father
whose attributes they Avorship, and in
so doing all worlds worship the same
one God, dwelling in all of His fulness
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
135
in the personages who are the Fathers
of each. Thus will worlds and systems
of worlds, and gorgeous universes, be
multiplied in endless succession through
the infinite depths of boundless space ;
some telestial, some terrestrial, and
some Celestial, differing in their glory,
as the apparent splendor of the shining
luminaries of Heaven differ. All these
will swarm with an infinite number of
living, moving, animated beings from
the minutest animalcules that sport by
millions in a single drop of water, up
through every grade of existence to
those Almighty, All wise, and Most Glo-
rious Personages who exist in countless
numbers, governing and controlling all
things. EDITOR.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
(Continued.)
God generally entrusts his servants ■
first with wives, and then with chil-
dren, to see what kind of government
they will exercise; if they are found
faithful over those which are given to j
them, lie generally grants thein more,
in order that their posterity may be-
come numerous, and that the dominions ,
of their government may be extended, j
A man is better qualified to govern
his own offspring than the offspring of.
others; for he will be influenced to
govern for their good through the par-
ental ties of affection which fathers,
naturally entertain for their children.
The family or patriarchal government, '
therefore, was wisely instituted of God. .
He is the Author of parental affection :
He incorporated the principle in the
bosom of man for the good of the off- .
spring. The principle of parental gov-
ernment, notwithstanding the natural .
affections, needs to be under the direc- j
tion and control of the law of God, and
the influence of the Holy Spirit. As
God is glorified by the accession of,
numbers into His family, so are His
servants glorified by additions to their j
families. God, therefore, has wisely ,
ordained the plurality of wives, that
the families of His faithful servants
may be increased even as His own
government and kingdoms are increas- 1
ed. That which will enlarge the do-
minions of the Almighty will glorify i
Him ; and the same things that will
glorify God will glorify man. In ,
Isaiah, it is said of Christ, that " of the j
increase of His government there shall
be no end ;" and tliat, as the " Prince
of Peace," He should sit "upon the
throne of David, and upon his king-
dom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from
henceforth even forever." (Isa. 9 : 7.)
As there will be no end to the increase
of the numbers who will come under
the government and dominion of Christ,
so there will be no end to the increase
of the governments, and dominions,
and kingdoms of His servants ; for they
will be made like Christ, and be one
with Him, even as He and the Father
are one. The prophet Isaiah, when he
saw that Christ should be " cut off out
of the land of the living," asks the
question, " Who shall declare His r/en-
e ration?'''' He then immediately in-
forms us that Christ, himself, should
be comforted, in His dying moments,
by having a knowledge of his genera-
tion unfolded to his vision. " When
thou, shalt make His soul an offering
for sin, He shall see His seed." (Isa.
53.) Many have supposed that the
seed of Christ or His generation, has
reference to those who are born into
His kingdom, exclusively. But we
must recollect that the inhabitants des-
tined for this earth are limited in num-
bers ; and that, however numerous they
may be, who become, on this earth, His
adopted sons, yet there will evidently
be an end, or a time when no more of
mankind will receive the law of adop-
tion ; but the increase of Christ's gov-
ernment is to be without end, therefore,
there must be a continual increase of
136
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
His "seed" or " generation'1'' throughout
eternal ages : this is what comforted
Him in the hour of His greatest suffer-
ings. Now unless the seed and gener-
ation of His servants are also eternally
increased, they will not he like Him ;
their dominions and their governments
would come to a dead stand ; while
His was increasing; theirs would he
stationary ; while He was peopling
worlds upon worlds with His genera-
tions, and adding kingdoms ujion king-
doms, His younger brethren would, ac-
cording to Gentile notions, sit down
upon thrones with only a family of
about half a dozen or a dozen, without
any possibility of increasing their seed
or generations, like their elder Brother.
That generations will continue after
this earth passes away, is very evi-
dent from many portions of scripture.
Moses says, " Know therefore that the
Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful
God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love Him and
keep His commandments to a THOU-
SAND GENERATIONS." (Deut. 1 :
9.) At the very least estimate, we
cannot call a generation less than 20
years ; and even at this low estimate a
thousand generations would be twenty
thousand years. Now the temporal
existence of the earth and mortal man
will not continue over seven or eight
thousand years, after which the New
Earth will be made, inhabited by im-
mortal beings, on which there will be
no more death. It will be, therefore,
some twelve or thirteen thousand years
after the earth passes away before there
could be "a thousand generations;"
and yet the prophet Moses informs us
that God will keep His covenants with
those who keep his commandments
even "to a thousand generations."
The generations from Christ back to
Adam were, according the first chap-
ter of Matthew, connected with the
Old Testament, only sixty-one in num-
ber ; while the third of Luke estimates
the number to be seventy-five. If
there should be seventy-five genera-
tions after Christ, before the end of
the earth, it would make only one
hundred and fifty generations in all :
this subtracted from a thousand would I
leave eight hundred and fifty genera-
tions for the New Earth among immor-
tal beings. If the generations among
immortal beings are of the same aver-
age length as those pertaining to mor-
tality, recorded by Luke, then it will
require upwards of forty thousand
years before the New Earth could be
peopled with eight hundred and fifty
generations. The very fact that the
Lord has promised to keep His cove-
nant for a thousand generations shows
most clearly that multiplication exists
among those who are immortal as well
as those who are mortal. This proves
clearly the necessity of being married
for eternity as well as time, securing
that blessing in this life, that it may
be enjoyed in the next.
We have shown in the foregoing that
God remembers His Covenants and
promises " to a thousand Generations "
which proves beyond all controversy
that generations will continue in eter-
nity among immortal beings. Gene-
rations on the New Earth will differ
from those on our present earth in
several respects. First, the offspring
will be spirits, and not flesh and bones ;
secondly, these spirits, though male
and female, wrill not marry nor be given
in marriage while on the New Earth,
and consequently will not multiply ;
and lastly, neither parents nor children
will be subject to death. Upon this
earth, parents are considered the first
generation ; children, the second ;
grand-children, the third ; great grand-
children, the fourth ; and so on : but
upon the New Earth, generations can-
not be estimated after this manner, for
the simple reason that there will be no
grand-children nor great grand-children
only so far as the tabernacles are con-
cerned, but all will be children. As
the immortal parents represent the
first generation, their immortal children
will represent the second; but there
never can be a third, nor fourth, nor
any future number of generations on
the New Earth.
Before the second generation of the
children can have the privilege of
raising up an offspring of spirits, called
the third generation, they must have a
world created for them ; receive bodies
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
137
of flesli and bones upon the same ; pass
through a second estate similar to the
one through which the inhabitants of
this earth are now passing; die and be
redeemed from the grave, and their
world be redeemed, and glorified, and
made new, the same as ours will be ;
and then, they will commence multi-
plying an offspring of spirits : these
will be the third generation, or grand-
children of those who are redeemed
and inhabit this earth in its glorified
state. There must be a new world
created for each successive generation,
so that generations among immortal
beings will be reckoned according to
the genealogy of worlds. Each suc-
cessive world will be peopled by beings
of the same order of generation.
All the inhabitants, destined for this
earth, are, so far as their spirits are
concerned, of the same generation ; all
being the sons and daughters of one
Father; but so far as their tabernacles
are concerned, they are a succession of
generations. Generations among im-
mortal beings are of a higher order,
being the medium of the organization
of spiritual substance in which exists
capacities that are infinite in their na-
ture. This higher or more perfect or-
der of generation requires a period of
vast duration for the instruction and
gradual developement of the capaci-
ties of the spiritual offspring; hence
the children are permitted to reside on
the same world with their parents for
many millions of years, before another
world is provided for their inheritance ;
and before they are entrusted with the
great and most sacred privilege of mar-
riage for the infinitely important pur-
pose of multiplying their species. In-
deed, it would require several thousand
million of years, before a father could
raise up an offspring sufficiently numer-
ous to people one world as large as
this. And during this vast period of
time he could have no grand-children ;
all being his own sons and daughters ;
all being reckoned in the same genera-
tion ; and all remaining with their pa-
rents at the old homestead, until, for
the want of room, a new world is ere- i
ated and the dominions enlarged, and \
the children sent abroad to act for,
themselves, and to prepare to walk in
the footsteps of their father, by marry-
ing and multiplying as he lias done be-
fore them. A thousand generations,
therefore, among immortal beings,
would embrace a period of many mil-
lions of millions of years.
The fact being established that gen-
erations will be continued in eternity,
we have no reason to conjecture that
they will ever cease. If immortal be-
ings can multiply at all, it is perfectly
reasonable that this same power should
continue with them worlds without end.
Some, perhaps, may object against an
endless succession of worlds and gene-
rations on the supposition that there
will not be a sufficient quantity of
matter in existence for such a pur-
pose. This objection would be valid if
it could be proved that there was only
a finite quantity of materials ; for in
such a case, the period would eventu-
ally come when the whole quantity
would be exhausted, and the increase
of worlds and of intelligent beings
would necessarily cease : for we cannot,
for one moment, admit that the mate-
rials themselves could be created. In
a boundless space, there is plenty of
room for an infinite quantity of mate-
rials. It matters not how thinly the
elements may be scattered, though
there should be millions of miles inter-
vening between each particle, yet if
there were no bounds to this widely
diffused substance, the quantity would
be endless ; and if endless, there could
be an endless succession of worlds or-
ganized out of it, without any possi-
bility of exhausting it. Neither rea-
son nor observation can determine the
quantity ; for as God did not create
the elements, they are necessarily eter-
nal, and therefore exist without a cause.
There is no cause for the quantity that
exists. Indeed, there is no reason why
space contains any substance, what-
ever: much less is there any reason
why space contains a large instead of
a small, an infinite instead of a finite
quantity.
That there is an infinite quantity of
matter in space is certain from the re-
vealed fact that there is to be no end
to the increase of the government or
138
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
kingdoms of Christ : in order that the
increase may be without end, the
quantity of materials out of which
these kingdoms are formed must be
inexhaustable. No objection, therefore,
can be raised against the endless in-
crease of worlds and of living beings
for the want of sufficient substance.
The affection which exists in the
bosom of parents towards their off-
spring will be far greater among im-
mortal and celestial beings than what
it is here in this world ; consequently
the}?- will watch over them with the
most tender feelings ; and ordain laws
and rules for their government, adapted
to their capacities and wants: and
when they create a new world and
send their dear children to receive up-
on the same bodies of flesh and bones,
their affection for them will not, in
the least, be diminished ; they will
still be just as anxious for their welfare
and happiness as when they dwelt im-
mediately in their presence.
Those among their oftspring who
are sent to people new worlds, and
who obey the law of righteousness,
will be more highly favored than the
rebellious. The righteous among them
will be entrusted with the watch-care
and protection of the children of their
celestial or heavenly parents. This is
one great reason, why the Lord has
chosen the righteous in this world to
raise up seed unto Him through the
divine institution of marriage. It
must be evident to every one, that
when God sends forth His own chil-
dren from Heaven to be born into this
world, that it must be more pleasing
to Him for them to receive tabernacles
among the righteous than among the
wicked. This is one reason that He
has instituted a plurality of wives
among the righteous, that those noble
pure spirits who dwell in the presence
of God may come forth into the world
through the righteous and be taught
in the law of righteousness. When
God sends forth these spirits and en-
trusts them to the care of the righte-
ous, there is a prospect of their re-
turning again to enjoy the fulness of
His glory. But when the spirits from
Heaven are born among the wicked,
the prospect is, that they will be cor-
rupted by the precepts and wicked ex-
amples of their fathers, and thus be
unprepared to return to the bosom of
their Father in Heaven. The Father
of these spirits, through the love which
He has for them, is greatly pleased
when He can find a righteous man
unto whom he can safely entrust a
great number of wives, and make him
the father of many children, and by
this means save them and bring them
to their former home again.
If it were necessary for parents who
dwell in the United States to send forth
their beloved offspring to some distant
nation, there to abide for many years
before they were permitted to return,
how great would be their anxiety to
place them under the protection of
their friends instead of their enemies.
Would not parents feel the most in-
tense desire that their children might
be placed under the watch-care of their
own dear friends who would teach
them to love and reverence the advice
and counsel of their parents ? Would
they not much rather entrust one hun-
dred of their children to the protection
of a kind-hearted wise friend than one
to an enemy ? All will answer, with
one accord, Ves. If then earthly pa-
rents would feel so great a solicitude
for the welfare of their absent children,
how much greater must be the desire
of the Father of spirits for the welfare
of His own beloved offspring when He
sends them from home to a distant
world to be entrusted to the care of
earthly parents. What must be His
feelings when those earthly parents are
His enemies! When they will by
their own evil influences destroy those
pure and innocent spirits entrusted to
their charge ! No wonder then that
the Father of spirits should command
His friends to marry a plurality of wives
that those precious jewels from Heaven
may be educated in the law of righte-
ousness and in due time safely return
to the bosom of their heavenly parents.
Instead of condemning His friends be-
cause they have a great number of
wives and children, He will bless them,
and rejoice over them because of their
righteousness.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
139
Among all the duties devolving upon
mortal man there is none of more im-
portance than that of marrying in
righteousness. The Lord has consid-
ered this institution of so much con-
sequence that He has ordained author-
ity that has the power to determine
as to the number of wives a righteous
man may have. There is no station in
life, however high and responsible, that
will exempt the righteous from appeal-
ing to this authority. Joash, the king
of Israel, though a good man, yet had
no right to take a plurality of wives
without the consent of the authority
which God had ordained : hence we
read that Jehoiada, the priest " took
for him two wives and he begat sons
and daughters" ^2 Chron. 24; 3.)
That Joash did right in receiving these
two wives is evident from the preced-
ing verse : "And Joash did that which
was right in the sight of the Lord, all
the days of Jehoiada the priest,"
(verse 2.) The whole history of Je-
hoiada shows that he also was a man
of God and was permitted to live one
hundred and thirty years ; and when
he died, " they buried him in the city
of David among the kings, because he
had done good in Israel both toward
God, and toward his house." (2 Chron.
24: 15, 16.) These passages prove
that the Plurality of wives was given
to this good man by the authority of
Heaven. The very first time that
Hosea obtained the word of the Lord,
it was about getting married. The
passage reads thus : '• The beginning
of the word of the Lord by Hosea.
And the Lord said unto Hosea, Go,
take unto thee a wife of -whoredoms."
(Hosea 1 : 2.) In obedience to the
word of God, Hosea " went and took
Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim."
(verse 3.) And when this woman had
borne unto Hosea two sons and a
daughter the Lord commanded him to
go and take another woman — an adul-
teress. (Hosea 3.) Here, then, is the
most positive proof that God com-
manded a holy prophet to take a plu-
rality of wives. If the beginning of
the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith
had required him to do the same things
that Hosea did, Who would have be-
lieved in the divinity of his mission ?
God has the most, undoubted right
to command His servants in relation
to their domestic concerns ; and what-
ever He dictates is right. There are
many things which would be sinful in
the sight of God, were they done or
practiced without a commandment.
The Lord in the days of Noah had for-
bidden man to shed the blood of his fel-
low man ; yet the Lord commanded
Abraham to offer up his son Isaac, and
Abraham was justified in attempting
to shed his blood. Hosea would have
been condemned for marrying two
wicked women, had not the Lord com-
manded him to do it. When a pro-
phet or servant of God does as he is
commanded, he is justified, however
contrary it may be to former com-
mandments. If God has the right to
command His servants to do directly
contrary to what he has formerly com-
manded, He certainly has the right to
dictate them to take a plurality of
wives which is in no way violating any
former command.
It was sometimes the case in ancient
times that the husband loved some of
his wives more than others, but the
Lord gave a law to regulate the giving
of the inheritance to the children in
order to prevent all partiality arising
from such a cause. It reads thus : " If
a man have two wives, one beloved,
and another hated, and they have
borne him children, both the beloved
and the hated : and if the first-born
son be hers that was hated : then it
shall be, when he maketh his sons to
inherit that which he hath, that he
may not make the son of the beloved
the first-born before the son of the
hated, which is indeed the first-born ;
but he shall acknowledge the son of
the hated for the first-born, by giving
him a double portion of all that he
hath : for he is the beginning of his
strength ; the right of the first-born
is his." (Dent. 21: 15, 16, 17.)
In making this provision for the
security of the inheritance of the
first-born, there is no disapprobation,
whatever, expressed against the prac-
tice of plurality, but on the contrary,
the children of each wife are consid-
140
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
ered perfectly legitimate, and entitled
to the proportionate shares of his pro-
perty, in the same manner as if they
were the children of one wife.
We cannot feel justified in closing
this article on the subject of marriage
without saying a few words to unmar-
ried females in this church. You will
clearly perceive from the revelation
which God has given that you can
never obtain a fulness of glory without
being married to a righteous man for
time and for all eternity. If you mar-
ry a man who receives not the gospel,
you lay a foundation for sorrow in this
world, besides losing the privilege of
enjoying the society of a husband in
eternity. You forfeit your right to an
endless increase of immortal lives.
And even the children which you may
be favored with in this life will not be
entrusted to your charge in eternity ;
but you will be left in that world with-
out a husband, without a family, with-
out a kingdom — without any means of
enlarging yourselves, being subject to
the principalities and powers who are
counted worthy of families, and king-
doms, and thrones, and the increase of
dominions forever. To them you will
be servants and angels — that is, pro-
viding that your conduct should be
such as to secure this measure of glory.
Can it be possible that any females, af-
ter knowing these things, will suffer
themselves to keep company with a
persons out of this church ? It matters
not how great the morality of such
persons may be, nor how kind they
may be to you, they are not numbered
with the people of God ; they are not
in the way of salvation ; they cannot
save themselves nor their families ; and
after what God has revealed upon this
subject you cannot be justified, for one
moment, in keeping their company.
It would be infinitely better for you to
suffer poverty and tribulation with the
people of God, than to place yourselves
under the power of those who will not
embrace the great truths of Heaven.
By marrying an unbeliever you place
yourselves in open disobedience to the
command of God requiring His people
to gather together. Do you expect to
be saved in direct violation of the com-
mands of Heaven ? If not, keep your-
selves wholly and entirely from the
company of unbelievers. Do you wish
the fellowship of the Saints ? If vou
do, have no fellowship for unbelievers.
For after the great light which our
Father in Heaven has given, none of
the Saints will have any confidence in
your honesty or sincerity, if you will
recklessly throw yourselves away and
cut off all hopes of your future exalta-
tion. No female that has a respect for
the work of God, or a respect for her
future character among His people,
will associate or keep company with
any but Saints.
Many will inquire, What will be the
condition of those who have died be-
fore this light was revealed? We an-
swer that God has made provisions
in the laws, ordinances, and plans, in-
stituted before the foundation of the
world, to suit the circumstances of
every individual. Those who die with-
out hearing a message sent by author-
ity from Heaven, do not reject it; and
God has ordained that in the dispensa-
tion of the fulness of times the liv-
ing shall officiate for the dead. For
this cause God has commanded a tem-
ple to be built, that those ordinances
necessary for the salvation and redemp-
tion of the dead may be revealed and
administered in the same. The word
of the Lord which came unto Joseph,
the Seer, shows the importance of
these things ; it reads as follows :
" Verily I say unto you, that your
annointings, and your washings, and
your baptisms for the dead, and your
solemn assemblies, and your memorials
for your sacrifices, by the sons of Levi,
and for your oracles in your most holy
places, wherein you receive conversa-
tions, and your statutes and judgments,
for the beginning of the revelations
and foundation of Zion, and for the
glory, and honor, and endowment of
all her municiples, are ordained by the
ordinance of my holy house, which my
people are always commanded to build
unto my holy name." — (Doctrine and
Covenants, sec. 103: 12.)
We understand by this revelation
that God's people are always command-
ed to build unto his His holy name a
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
141
house, wherein baptisms, and all other
necessary ordinances may be legally
administered, not only for the living,
but also for, and in the name of, and
in behalf of the dead. If the spirits of
the dead who are in prison will hearken
unto the messages of those holding the
priesthood who are sent to their prison
houses to open the prison doors and set
them free ; if they will believe in Jesus
Christ and repent of all their sins, and
receive the glad tidings of redemption ;
if they will receive by faith what their
friends in the flesh have done for them
through the ordinances of (rod's holy
house, namely : the baptisms, confirm-
ations, ordinations, Avashings, annoint-
ings, signs, tokens, keys, and sealing
powers which are administered by the
living, and unto the living, for and in
the name of the dead ; if they will,
with sincerity of faith and humble re-
pentance, believe in and receive all that
is done in their behalf as the living re-
ceive what Christ has done — they shall
be redeemed from their prisons, and
their names shall be recorded among
the sanctified in the Celestial king-
dom, and the records in Heaven will
be according to the records of God's
holy house upon the earth ; and that
which is done and sealed on the earth
for and in their behalf will be acknow-
ledged, recorded, and sealed in the
Heavens, and will be valid and legal in
the great day of the resurrection of the
righteous ; but the remainder of the
spirits who will not receive the glad
tidings and accept of deliverance shall
be kept in chains of darkness unto the
judgment of the great day, and their
torment shall be as if suffering in fiames
of fire, where their worm dieth not.
Do you inquire how we are to ob-
tain the genealogies of our fathers, so
as to do this work for them which
they, when living, had not the oppor-
tunity of doing, and which they, as
spirits in prison, cannot do ? We an-
swer, that it is the duty of all Saints
among all nations to search out, as far
as possible, their family records, and
their genealogies, and their kindred,
both the living and the dead ; and
when you have been diligent and pro-
cured all the information within your
reach, and have gone into the holy
Temple of theaMost High, and done
what is required of the living for the
dead. Then God will show you by
his Prophets and Seers, and by holy
messengers and angels, the genealogies
of your fathers, back from generation
to generation unto the beginning, or
unto the time when the powers, and
keys, and ordinances of the priesthood
were upon the earth. When you ob-
tain these genealogies, it will be your
duty to receive in the holy temple,
all the ordinances and sealing powers
which were instituted in the councils
of the Sons of God before the world
was for the salvation, redemption, ex-
altation, glory, and honor of the dead
who died without a knowledge of
these things ; for you, without your
fathers, cannot be made perfect, neither
can the ancient fathers who held the
priesthood be made perfect without
the children.
The time is near at hand when the
fathers who hold the priesthood in
Heaven will be united with the chil-
dren who hold the priesthood upon the
earth ; but there are many generations
intervening who held not the priest-
hood but died in their ignorance : the
grand chain of patriarchal government,
according to the order of generations,
will be broken, and the union will not
be complete, unless the hearts of the
fathers are turned to seek after the re-
demption of the generations of their
children who have laid down in their
graves in the days of darkness ; and
also unless the hearts of the children
are turned towards their fathers : thus
through the united exertions of the
priesthood in Heaven with the priest-
hood upon the earth, the intermediate
links of the great chain of generation
will be restored, and the union of the
fathers with the children will be made
perfect, and each successive generation
will stand in their own order, exercis-
ing their patriarchal authority, and
swaying the sceptre of righteousness,
according to the holy order of the
priesthood forever and ever.
When these holy and sacred insti-
tutions are made known to the spirits
in prison by holy messengers holding
142
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
the priesthood, they will be left to their
own agency either to receive or reject
these glad tidings, and will be judged ac-
cording to men in the flesh who have
the privilege of hearing the same
things. By the same law they shall
be justified, and by the same law they
shall be condemned, according to their
works : thus God has ordained the
same plan for the salvation of both the
living and the dead; for those that die
in ignorance as for those who hear it
while in the flesh.
Among these sacred and holy things,
pertaining to the fulness of the ever-
lasting priesthood, and the eternal ex-
altation of the male and female, is that
of marriage for eternity, which ordi-
nance was instituted for the benefit of
the dead as well as the living. The
proper places for the celebration of this
holy institution are in Zion and in her
stakes and in Jerusalem, to be adminis-
tered under the direction and by the au-
thority of him whom God ordains to
hold the kej-s of the sealing powers
among His people upon the earth. This
ordinance, like baptisms for the dead,
and numerous other ordinances, belongs
more properly to the house of the
Lord, and should be attended to there-
in as soon as the same can be built.
If a husband has lost his wife by
death before he had the opportunity of
attending to this holy ordinance and
securing her as his lawful wife for
eternity, then it is the duty of the se-
cond wife, first, to be sealed or mar-
ried to the husband for and in the name
of the deceased wife for all eternity,
and secondly, to be married for time
and eternity, herself, to the same man.
Thus by this holy ordinance both the
dead and the living wife will be his
in the eternal worlds.
But if, previously to marriage for
eternity, a woman lose her husband by
death and marry a second, and if her
first husband was a good man, then it
is the duty of her second husband to be
married to her for all eternity, not for
himself, but in the name of her deceas-
ed husband, while he, himself, can only
be married to her for time ; and he is
obliged to enter into a covenant to de-
liver her up with all her children to
her deceased husband in the morning
of the first resurrection. In this case,
the second husband would have no
wife only for time, neither could he
retain his children in the eternal worlds,
for 'they, according to the law of Heaven,
would be given up to the wife and her
first husband. Therefore, it would be
the duty of the second husband to
marry a second wife for time and
eternity ', for by marrying her for time,
he could raise up an offspring which
would bear up his name not only on
the earth, but, with their mother, they
would be legally his in the resurrection.
The husband, in this case, must neces-
sarily have two wives living at the
same time, or else be deprived of a
wife and family in the eternal state.
If a widower marry a widow, and
each desires to have his or her former
partner in the next world ; then it is
necessary that there should be three
ceremonies of marriage : first, that
which secures the widower to his de-
ceased wife, second, that which secures
the widow to her deceased husband,
and third, that which constitutes the
widower and widow husband and wife
for time only. In this case, as in all
others, the children in the resurrection
go into the same family with the mother,
the reason of this is, because the woman
can only have a limited number of
children here in this life, while the man,
not being limited by the law of God to
one wife, can have many children ;
therefore it is not according to the or-
der of Heaven, that the few children
which a woman can have, should be
taken from her, providing that she has
a husband for eternity.
If the husband and wife both die in
this church, before they have secured
each other for eternity, then it is the
duty of their kindred or friends in the
church to attend to the holy ordinance
of marriage in their behalf, that what
is done for them by the living, accord-
ing to the ordinance and authority of
Heaven, may be recorded in the sacred
archives in their behalf in the day when
the records or books shall be opened ;
for then it shall be done for them, ac-
cording to their works, and the works
of their friends who have acted for them,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
143
and the works of the priesthood whose
acts are recorded on earth and in Heaven.
God will in that day acknowledge the
authority which he has ordained, and
the works that they have performed
in His name, and according to His
word.
If husbands or wives die before they
have the opportunity of being baptized
into this church, then it is necessary,
before the ordinance of marriage can
be administered in their behalf, that
the living should attend to baptisms,
and confirmations, and ordinations, and
washings, and annointings, and all other
institutions ordained of God, for and in
the name of the deceased, and last of
all the sealing powers of marriage and
the blessings connected therewith, that
the dead may in all things be justified,
and sanctified, and exalted, and glori-
fied, and made kings, and priests, and
Gods, through the same laws and or-
dinances as the living ; they being
agents in the world of spirits to receive
or to reject that which is done for them,
the same as the living.
In like manner, onr progenitors, back
from generation to generation, will
have the privilege of redemption, and
of exaltation, and of wives and children
through the keys of the everlasting
priesthood sent down from Heaven, and
conferred upon the living for the sal-
vation of the nations on earth, and of
the generations of the dead, that all in
time and in eternity both in the flesh
and out of the flesh that will hear and
receive the same, may be gathered in
one and be glorified together and made
perfect in one : and thus shall all gen-
erations both those in Heaven and those
upon the earth, as well as those redeem-
ed from prison, be united and welded
together by their appropriate links,
under Adam the grand Patriarch of
all generations, the Prince of all, and
the father of all, under the counsel and
direction of the Holy One who is from
all eternity, the Father of lights, who
is in all, and over all, and through all
things, the life and glory of all things,
and the power by which all things will
be governed, whether they be patriarchs
or families, principalities or kingdoms,
thrones or dominions ; all will bow in
humble reverence before nim and give
Him glory for ever and ever.
The husband is the head of the fam-
ily, and it is his duty to govern his
wife or wives and children according
to the law of righteousness ; and it is
the duty of his wives to be subject unto
him in all things even as the church is
subject unto Christ. This is clearly
revealed in the declaration of the Lord
to Eve immediately after the fall. It
was said unto her, " Thy desire shall
be to thy husband and he shall rule
oyer thee.") Gen. 3: 10.) This di-
vine institution in the order of family
government was intended as an ever-
lasting order to be continued in all
generations. Each wife should seek
counsel from her husband, and obey
the same with all meekness and pa-
tience in all things. This order of
things is only applicable in the fami-
lies of the righteous; for God has
nothing to do with the families of the
wicked, only to bring them to judg-
ment for all their wicked deeds. But
the families of the righteous are under
the most sacred obligations to give the
most earnest heed to all the counsels
of the head of the family : and he is
bound by the heaviest responsibilities
to counsel with sobriety, meekness,
wisdom, and prudence, exercising for-
bearance, patience, and long-suffering,
showing mercy and compassion when
it is required, but to be strict and un-
yielding in the enforcement of all
things calculated for the good of the
family ; he should never suffer himself
to be moved to the right hand nor to
the left from the principles of righte-
ousness either by the smiles or tears
of wives or children. He should be
fixed and immovable as the throne of
Heaven in every right and holy princi-
ple. But when he can in righteous-
ness yield to the desires of his family,
let him do so, and by kindness and
love nourish and cherish them, as the
Lord does the church ; and in so doing,
they will love and honor him as a hus-
band and a father.
The wife should never follow her
own judgment in preference to that of
her husband ; for if her husband de-
sires to do right, but errs in judgment,
144
Baptisms — Emigration — Notice.
the Lord will bless her in endeavoring
to carry out his counsels ; for God has
placed him at the head, and though
he may err in judgment, yet God will
not justify the wife in disregarding his
instructions and counsels ; for greater
is the sin of rebellion, than the errors
which arise for the want of judgment ;
therefore, she would be condemned for
suffering her will to arise against his.
Be obedient, and God will cause all
things to work for good ; and He will
correct the errors of the husband in
due time by the authorities of the
priesthood ; and if he govern his family
in unrighteousness, and the wife is
obedient, the sin will be upon his head,
and if he repent not, when he is re-
proved, he will be disfellowshipped, af-
ter which, the woman is not under the
same obligations to abide by all his
councils, as in the days of his righte-
ousness. As we have already observ-
ed, the law of strict obedience on the
part of the wife and children is only
applicable in families who are in the
church of God, and in full fellowship,
Rebellion in families is as sinful as re-
bellion against the authorities ordained
in the church ; and a wife will lose the
spirit of God in refusing to obey the
counsel of her husband, just the same
as members of the church would in re-
belling against the counsels imparted
to them by the priesthood.
Family government is the first order
of government established on the earth.
The different members of a family
should seek to be one in all things ; for
if they are not one, how can it be ex-
pected that different families can be-
come one ? If the members of the
same family will not be subject to the
order, ordained of God for their gov-
ernment, they certainly could not be
united with other families under the
government of the priesthood with any
expectation of preserving peace. God
designs to make all the families of
Heaven one with the families of the
righteous upon the earth. In order
to accomplish this, the most perfect
order of family government must be
adopted. Husbands must govern their
wives and children in righteousness,
and wives and children must learn to
honor and respect the counsels of the
head of the family. And when every
family become one in all things, they
will be prepared to unite themselves
together under a more general form of
government.
(To be continued.)
Baptisms — Emigration.
May 14. — Elder Jesse Turpin has lately baptized nearly thirty persons in
New Jersey. Elder Preston Thomas has recently baptized about the same
number in Texas : twenty-three were immersed in one evening. Many of these
will emigrate to Utah this season : they will drive from a thousand to fifteen
hundred head of loose cattle, and will probably take a northwestern course by
the way of the head waters of the Arkansas, and strike the main emigrant road
near Fort Larimie. The number of Saints crossing the plains this season, will
probably number near four thousand.
NOTICE. — We are abont to take our departure from Washington to Eng-
land, and shall probably be absent some two or three months, (from this date,
May 14th.) Our correspondents need not expect any answer to their commu-
nications until our return. EDITOR.
CONTENTS.
The Pre-existence of Man 129
Celestial Marriage 135
Baptisms — Emigration — Notice 144
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published bt Orsov Phatt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
I //,'.'/ '//'/ ■//
SiT^tfO^
MM
g?$
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
OCTOBER, 1853.
No. 10.
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
The Priesthood of God is the great,
supreme, legal authority that governs
the inhabitants of all redeemed and
glorified worlds. In it is included all
power to create worlds, to ordain fixed
and permanent laws for the regulation
of the materials in all their varied ope-
rations, whether acting as particles, as
masses, as worlds, or as clusters of
worlds. It is that power that formed
the minerals, the vegetables, and the
animals in all their infinite varieties
which exist upon our globe. It is that
authority that reveals laws for the gov-
ernment of intelligent beings — that re-
wards the obedient and punishes the
disobedient — that ordains principali-
ties, powers, and kingdoms to carry out
its righteous administrations through-
out all dominions. The Kingly au-
thoritv is not separate and distinct from
the Priesthood, but merely a branch
or portion of the same. The Priestly
authority is universal, having power
over all things ; the Kingly authority
until perfected is limited to the king-
doms placed under its jurisdiction:
the former appoints and ordains the
latter; but the latter never appoints
and ordains the former : the first con-
trols the laws of nature, and exercises
jurisdiction over the elements, as well
as over men ; the last controls men
only, and administers just and righteous
laws for their government. Where the
two are combined and the individual
perfected, he has almighty power both
as a King and as a Priest ; both offices
are then merged in one. The distinc-
tions then, will be merely in the name
and not in the authority : either as a
King or a Priest he will then have
power and dominion over all things,
and reign over all. Both titles, com-
bined, will then not give him any more
power than either one singly. It is
evident that the distinctions of title are
only expressive of the condition of
things prior to the glorification and
perfection of the persons who hold the
Priesthood ; for when they are perfect-
ed, they will have power to act in every
branch of authority by virtue of the
great, and almighty, and eternal Priest-
hood which they hold: they can then
sway their sceptres as Kings ; rule as
Princes, minister as Apostles ; officiate
as Teachers ; or, act in the humblest
or most exalted capacity. There is no
branch of the Priesthood so low that
they cannot condescend to officiate
therein ; none so high, that they can-
not reach forth the arm of power and
control the same.
That the power of the Priesthood is
almighty Is evident from the fact that
God the Father and His Only Begot-
ten Son both hold the priesthood. If
God the Father were not in the posses-
sion of the Priesthood, He never could
have called, appointed, made, and con-
secrated Jesus a High Priest. Paul,
in speaking of Christ, says, "He be-
came the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him ; called of
God an high priest after the order of
Melchisedec." (Heb. 7: 9,10.) Again
lie says, ''Christ glorified not himself
to be made an high priest ; but He
that said unto him, Thou art my Son,
to day have I begotten thee. As He
saith also in another place, Thou art a
priest for ever after the order of Mel-
chisedec.'* (Heb. 5 : 5, 6.) These two
pas-ages prove that the Father called
his Son to the Priesthood.
We will next prove that God not
only called His Son to be a High Priest,
but appointed and made him such by
an oath. Paul exhorts the Hebrew
church as follows, "Therefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus ;
who was faithful to Him that appoint-
ed him, as also Moses was faithful in
all his house." (Heb. 3:1, 2.)
"And inasmuch as not without an
oath he was made Priest : (for those
priests," [the Aaronic priests] "were
made without an oath ; but tliis with
an oath by Him that said unto him,
The Lord sware and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever after the or-
der of Melchisedec :) by so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better testa-
ment." (Heb. 1 : 20-22.)
Jesus was not only called, appointed,
and made a High Priest with an oath,
but was also consecrated. "For the
law maketh men high priests which
have infirmity; but the word of the
oath, which was since the law, maketh
the Son, who is consecrated forever-
more." (Heb. 1: 28.) To constitute
Jesus a High Priest, then, required a
Calling, an Appointment, an Oath, and
a Consecration. The fact that God
the Father conferred this authority upon
His Son, shows most conclusive! v that
He, Himself, was in possession of the
same great Priesthood ; for we cannot
conceive it possible for a being to con-
fer that which he does not, himself,
possess.
Many suppose that there were never
but two persons who held this greater
Priesthood, namely, Jesus and Melchi-
sedec. If so, who conferred this Priest-
hood upon Melchisedec ? Could it have
been Christ ? for, according to Paul, it
was many centuries after the days of
Melchisedec, and even after the law
was given by Moses, before God made
and consecrated with an oath, His Son
a High Priest. Would the Messiah
call, ordain, and consecrate Melchise-
dec to an office before he, himself, re-
ceived the sacred ordinance of conse-
cration ? If not, who had a right to
consecrate him to that office ? We
answer that no one would be likely to
do this, unless he himself held the
office.
Paul says furthermore, that the
Priesthood which Melchisedec had re-
ceived, was " without father, without
mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life.""
(Heb. 7: 3.) Melchisedec, having re-
ceived such a Priesthood, and being
"made like unto the Son of God; abi-
deth a priest continually." As the
Priesthood had no "beginning of days"
it must have existed before the days of
our earth had a commencement. But
Who then possessed it? We answer,.
God, the Father of our Spirits, then
possessed it, in all its glorious power
and fulness ; for if He nor no one else
held the Priesthood before the com-
mencement of the days of creation,,
tl\en it could not have been, as Paul
declares, " without beginning of days."
Having proved that God the Father
possessed the Priesthood before the
days of creation, and that Melchisedec
in the days of Abraham held the same
Priesthood, and that Jesus, by "the
tvord of the oath which was since the
law" was "Called" "Appointed"
"Made" and "Consecrated" a High
Priest for evermore after the same or-
der, it will easily be seen, that in the
Priesthood was vested all power. By
the exercise of this Priesthood, God;
the Father made the worlds through
His Son. By it, the Son received all
power both in heaven and upon the
earth. By it, he will sit upon "the
throne of his father David ; and will
reign over the house of Jacob for ever;.
and of his kingdom there will be no-
end." (Luke 1 : 32, 33.) By it, he
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
147
lias "ascended up far above all heavens
that he might fill all things." By it,
he has obtained eternal crowns, to
reign as King of kings and Lord of
lords, over all kingdoms and domin-
ions, principalities and powers in this
world, or in the world of spirits, or in
the endless dominions of his Father.
Although Paul informs us that Jesus
was called and made a High Priest
centuries after the law was given, yet
there is no doubt that he was considered
in the mind of his Father the same as
a High Priest before the foundation of
the world ; and that by virtue of the
Priesthood which he should, in a future
age, receive, he could organize worlds
and show forth almighty power. God,
by his fore-knowledge, saw that His
Son would keep all his commands, and
determined, at a certain time, to call
and consecrate him a High Priest ;
He determined also that by virtue of
that future consecration to the Priest-
hood, he should, thousands of years
beforehand, have power to create worlds
and govern them, the same as if he had
already received the consecration. All
his marvellous acts and doings, there-
fore, prior to his consecration, were just
as much the results of the authority
of the Priesthood, as those performed
by him since that time.
All the powers of the Priesthood
which the Father possessed were con-
ferred upon the Son, so that he became
equal with the Father in all things;
being equal with Him in knowledge, i
in glory, in power, in dominion, and in
the perfection of every attribute.
As all the. power that the Father and
Son possess, is included in the Priest-
hood, it is evident that if they invest
any power on others, it must be by the
Priesthood or a branch thereof; for
without the Priesthood, and the au-
thorities growing out of it, there can
be no government on any world that
is legal or acceptable in the sight of
God ; though they may be legal so far
as human authority is concerned. All
kingdoms, empires, republics, and other
governments, established by men, are
invested with human authority; and
general consent renders them legal in
a certain sense, and as such they should
be respected, and their laws obeyed.
But, if a government is not established
by the Priesthood, it is not the order
of God, and its doings will not in the
day of judgment be recognized as le-
gal, or of divine appointment. All or-
ders of government not theocratical,
however good and moral they may be
in other respects, are, nevertheless, de-
partures from the heavenly and divine
older, and must eventually come to an
end. The United States government
is the best human government upon
the earth. God suffered it to be es-
tablished in order that liberty and
freedom of conscience might be en-
joyed; and God says, "For this pur-
pose have I established the Constitution
of this land, by the hands of wise men
whom I raised up unto this very pur-
pose." So far as freedom, and liberty,
and the Constitution, and the righteous
laws founded upon the same, are con-
cerned, the United States government
may be considered of God. It was
the best government which the people,
under the circumstances, were capable
of receiving. A theocratical govern-
ment, under an inspired Priesthood,
would have been better still ; but the
people were not prepared for such a
form of government ; and would not
have received it, if it had been pro-
posed ; consequently God gave them
the next best, or such a one as He saw
they would receive. And why did He
do it? it was in order to prepare the
way for His kingdom, that when He
should offer the people a theocracy they
might have liberty of conscience, and
be free to receive or reject it, and be
accountable, in this thing, to God only
and not to man. This Republic, there-
fore, was established of God, not as a
perfect form of government, but as a
stepping stone to one that was perfect,
and of His own order, founded on the
revelation of the Priesthood, and its
laws and ordinances. Such a govern-
ment was set up on the earth, and in
the midst of this Republic, in the year
1830, being wholly and entirely theo-
cratical in its nature; its offices, laws,
and ordinances, all being revealed from
heaven. But is it lawful for such a
government to be organized in the
148
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
midst of this Republic ? It most cer-
tainly is; for the glorious Constitution
permits all forms of ecclesiastical gov-
ernment to exist within the Republic,
providing that those forms do not in-
fringe upon the principles contained in
that sacred document, nor come in con-
tact with the laws of the country.
The Constitution and the Republican
form of government are good as far as
they go, but they stop infinitely short
of the glorious privileges and powers
enjoyed in the more perfect form of
God's government ; so far, therefore, as
the preparatory government is good, it
is in no wise to be disannulled and
done away, but to be received, cherish-
ed, and sustained in connection with
the far greater good revealed in the
government of the Kingdom of God.
If mankind had not rebelled against
God and His authority, there never
would have been but one form of gov-
ernment upon the earth, and that would
have been a Theocracy — a government
wholly under an inspired Priesthood,
having no laws of human origin, but
bein'i; constantly guided and controlled
by divine laws, statutes, and ordinances,
and new revelations, suited to the con-
dition and circumstances of each indi-
vidual among all the happy nations.
All the varied forms of government
that have been upon the earth from the
earliest ages until the present, that
have not been according to this heaven-
ly order, have arisen through transgres-
sion ; even the law of carnal command-
ments given through Moses " was added
because of transgression," and because
of the hardness of the hearts of the
children of Israel. The kingdoms of
this world were founded in transgres-
sion, and the world has been in a state
of rebellion against the legal govern-
ment of the great Priesthood of God
for about six thousand years. But the
Lord has determined to overthrow all
governments established by human au-
thority, and cast down their thrones,
and b.eak them to pieces as a potter's
vessel, and consume them as stubble,
and blow them away as the chaff of
the summer-threshing floors, that no
place shall be found for them ; while
His Kingdom, set up by His power,
shall become a great mountain and fill
the whole earth ; and the Kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the
Kingdom under the whole heavens,
will be given to the saints ; and the
Kingdom will be an everlasting King-
dom that will never be destroyed, but
will continue in its glory for ever and
ever ; because it is the order of heaven,
founded by the eternal Priesthood,
upon eternal principles and laws, re-
vealed from the eternal King. This
will be a Theocracy ; this will be a Di-
vine government ; this will be a resto-
ration of the legal power ; and the
earth which has groaned under the
usurpation of treasonable and rebellious
powers for six thousand years, will
again have peace restored, and the in-
habitants thereof will be happy. It is
to accomplish these great results that
God has set up His Kingdom as fore-
told by his ancient prophets : He has
founded it in the midst of the great
and glorious Republic of the United
States which was also founded by His
divine wisdom, as a preparatory gov-
ernment for His Kingdom. It is here,
in this land of freedom and equal rights,
that the eternal Priesthood with its
keys of power and glory, has been sent
down from heaven by the hands of
Peter, James, and John ; it is here,
where the proud eagle spreads forth
her wings for the protection of the
rights of conscience, that the legal
power of heaven has once more revi-
sited this rebellious creation to assert
its heavenly rights among the hosts of
men ; it is here, under the broad folds
of the American Constitution, itself of
divine origin, that a more glorious gov-
ernment has been established, which
must increase, and spread wider and
wider, until the whole earth shall be
enrobed with its glory ; it is here, upon
the heart of this broad continent, where
the everlasting mountains tower their
whitened summits, far above the clouds,
that a people live and reign, who are
destined to fill the earth with heavenly
light and truth, till darkness shall be
no more ; it is here, where liberty has
sought a resting place from the tyran-
nical powers of the old world, that
Zion's towers shall rise and greet the
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
149
heavens, and the shining hosts above,
arrayed in glorious splendor, descend
to reign" with man on earth. 0 Ame-
rica, how art thou favored above all
lands ! O happy Republic, how exalted
above all nations ! Within thee is the
Kingdom of God ! Thou wast chosen
to prepare its way ! It must increase,
but thou shalt decrease ! Thou didst
lift up thy voice and cry to the nations,
Behold, here are liberty and freedom
for all, but that which came after thee,
shall thoroughly purge the floor, and
restore everlasting peace and liberty to
the whole earth ! Among all the gov-
ernments established by human wis-
dom, none were greater than this Re-
public, but that power which is least
in the Kingdom of God is greater than
it. The one must remain forever,
while the other, having accomplished
the purpose for which it was raised up,
must cease to be, being superseded by
that which is more glorious.
There never would have been any
necessity for a restoration of this divine
order of Government, if mankind had
not revolted against the legal power
and substituted human laws for those
that were divine. In the early ages
the Priesthood bore rule among those
who were righteous. According to the
revelations which God gave to Joseph
the Seer, the Priesthood was given to
Adam, and through the lineage of
Seth was transferred from generation to
generation to the days of Noah ; and
from Noah it continued from father to
Son until the days of Melchisedec who
conferred it upon Abraham. Also in
the days of Abraham God by His own
hand conferred the Priesthood upon
Esaias; and Esaias ordained Gad; and
Gad ordained Jeremy ; and Jeremy or-
dained Elihu ; and Elihu ordained Ca-
leb, and Caleb ordained Jethro, Moses
father-in-law; and Jethro ordained
Moses. Thus this greater Priesthood
had place on the earth from Adam till
Moses; and each successive Priest pro-
claimed the same salvation, adminis-
tered the same gospel, with all its or-
dinances and blessings, that were
preached and received after Christ, In
and through the ordinances of the
Priesthood, the power of Godliness was
manifest, and by it, holy men were
enabled to converse with God face to
face ; and also through the Priesthood
many obtained sufficient faith and pow-
er to be translated ; by the power of
the Priesthood Enoch and his city
were taken up into heaven, and re-
served until a day of righteousness
shall come, when they will come again
on earth and have place until the end.
The Priesthood, therefore, is the
great medium of power, both in the
heavens and upon the earth. It existed
before the days of creation, being
" without beginning of days."
We shall next prove that the Priest-
hood is Eternal. We have already
shown that Christ was consecrated a
Priest "for evermore1'1 — that he was
made "a Priest forever after the order
( if Melchisedec" We have also proved
that Melchisedec, being "made like
unto the Son of God, abideth a Priest
continually." Both Melchisedec and
the Son of God, according to Paul,
were to remain Priests continually, that
is, for evermore : their Priesthood was
an everlasting Priesthood which should
never have an end.
The saints receive the Priestly and
Kingly office here in this life ; hence,
John the Revelator expresses himself
as follows: "Unto him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, and hath made us Kings
and Priests unto God and his Father ;
to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever." (Rev. 1 : 5, 6.) The saints
being ordained here in this life both
Kings and Priests, hold the authority
after they die and go to the world of
spirits. Hence, John heard them sing-
ing in the spirit world the following
song: "Thou art worthy to take the
book, and to open the seals thereof:
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; and hast made us unto our
God Kings and Priests : and we shall
reign on the earth." (Rev. 5: 9, 10.)
The saints not only retain the office of
Kings and Priests while as disembodied
spirits, but they also hold the office
after the resurrection. Therefore, John
writes, saying, "Blessed and holy is he
150
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
that hath part in the first resurrection :
on such the second death hath no
power, hut they shall he Priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years." (Rev. 20:
(3.) They are not only to reign on the
earth a thousand years after the resur-
rection, hut in another passage he says,
" They shall reign for ever and tver."
(Rev. 22: 5.) Therefore, all the saints
who are ordained Kings and Priests in
this life will retain this office and this
eternal power for evermore, being made
as Melchisedec was, like unto the Son
of God, they will abide Priests con-
tinually. Therefore, the Priesthood, so
far as future duration is concerned, is
eternal and will have no end.
Next, let us inquire whether the
Priesthood had a beo-inninc;? It is
quite evident that it was " without be-
ginning of days ;" but this expression
does not prove that it was absolutely
without any beginning at all. From
the fact that God the Father must have
possessed the Priesthood before the
days of our creation, it is reasonable
to conclude that it was of very remote
antiquity. How long the Father had
been in possession of it, we are not
able to say. But we know, from what
has already been said, in the articles on
Celestial Marriage and The Pre-Ex-
istence of Man, that He never could
have been exalted to the high honor
of becoming the Father of Spirits with-
out the Priesthood ; therefore He must
have been a Priest before He begat
Jesus Christ, His First Porn who Avas
the oldest of all the family of spirits.
And wTe also know that as the family
of spirits are exceedingly numerous,
that it must have been many thousand
millions of years ago before the birth
of His First Porn ; for it would require
an immense number of ages for one
Father to have begotten so numerous
a family, as have already come forth
from heaven and peopled our world.
But previous to the birth of His First
Born, He must have had the Priest-
hood conferred upon Him preparatory
to His exaltation and redemption from
the grave on some ancient world of
which He was an inhabitant. But the
Being who conferred that Priesthood
upon Him must have possessed it Him-
self. And thus, when we undertake to
trace back the genealogy of the Priest-
hood, we find it of necessity running
back from one redeemed world to ano-
ther still more ancient ; and that each
preceding step in the genealogy em-
braces a period of immense duration.
Now, how many of these vast periods
and succession of worlds have inter-
vened between us and the FIRST
Being who ever held the Priesthood ?
We answer, that if it can be proved
that the Priesthood is Eternal and had
no beginning, it will necessarily folloAV
that there must have been an endless
succession of Beings who held it, or
else that some Being must have ex-
isted from eternity who eternally pos-
sessed it.
From a revelation on the Priesthood
in the Book of Mormon, it will be seen
that it had no beginning. The pro-
phet Alma in speaking of this holy
calling, says it was "prepared from the
foundation of the world for such as
would not harden their hearts, being in
and through the atonement of the
only begotten Son, who was prepared ;
and thus being called by this holy
calling, and ordained unto the High
Priesthood of the holy order of God,
to teach His commandments unto the
children of men, that they also might
enter into His rest ; this High Priest-
hood being after the order of His Son,
which order was from the foundation
of the world ; or in other words, being
without beginning of days or end of
years, being prepared from eternity to
all eternity, according to Flis fore-
knowledge of all things. Now they
were ordained after this manner : Being-
called with a holy calling, and ordain-
ed with a holy ordinance, and taking
upon them the High Priesthood of the
holy order, which Calling, and Ordi-
nance, and High Priesthood is vnthout
beginning or end; thus they became
High Priests forever, after the order of
the Son-^-the Only Begotten of the
Father, who is without beginning of
days or end of years, who is lull of
grace, equity and truth." (Book of
Mormon, Chap. 9 : 6.) Here we are
expressly told that the Calling, and
POWER AND ETERNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
151
Ordinance, and High Priesthood are
WITHOUT BEGINNING.
This forever sets the matter at rest
among all who believe the Book of
Mormon, that the Priesthood not only
will have an Eternal future duration,
but that it has had also an Eternal past
•duration : consequently, the Priesthood
with the Calling and Ordinance con-
nected with it, never had an origin:
and therefore, there never was a period
in the endless duration that is past but
what some personage existed, holding
the Priesthood. Now there must either
have been some One personage who
never had a beginning ; or else there
must have been an endless succession
of personages ; for if there ever were
a period when a personage did not ex-
ist, then the Priesthood could not have
been in being, unless we suppose that
the Calling, Ordinance, and Priesthood
■existed in connection with unorganized
materials which would seem to be ab-
surd. There is something connected
with a personage that indicates design
in its construction. The nice adjust-
ment, and skilful adaptation, and ar-
rangement of the several parts of -a
personage, indicate that some wise de-
signing power purposely constructed
him with those useful adaptations, and
therefore, that the personage must have
had a beginning. If we suppose a per-
sonage to exist from all eternity, all
the beneficial arrangements of the dif-
ferent parts of his system must exist
without any cause or design. There
would not be the least reason whatever
for his limbs being plaeed in the best
possible position in the body : it could
not be said that the feet were designed-
ly placed below the ancles, instead of
existing on the top of the head, or on
some other part of the body : it could
aiot be said that the eyes were purpose-
ly placed in the head, instead of under
the arms, or at the ends of the toes ;
for a personage that is eternal never
was formed, and therefore, there never
icould have been any purpose or design
in the arrangement of its parts. If
the eyes and ears, head and feet, nose
mid mouth, hands and arms, are lo-
•cated in the best possible position for
the benefit and happiness of the being,
be assured, that, if the personage is
eternal, these parts were not thus hap-
pily located by design. If they were
designedly placed in these most useful
positions, then there was a period be-
fore this design took effect in perform-
ing this skilful arrangement of the
several limbs and parts of the system ;
this therefore, would at once destroy
the eternity of the system and prove
that it had a beginning. That which
is eternal cannot be preceded by a
cause or design for tin- useful and bene-
ficial adjustment of its parts. There-
fore, if some personage existed from all
eternity we are compelled to renounce
the doctrine of design, and say that no
such thing exists ; for if design is not
manifested in the intricate and won-
derful adaptations of the several limbs,
joints, and j^arts of a personage, then
it is not manifested in any thing, and
all arguments founded upon it must be
entirely without foundation. But there
is no person, possessing a sane mind,
who will not, at once, admit that pur-
pose and design are abundantly mani-
fested in all vegetables, animals, and
personages upon our globe ; and if this
really be the fact, then design must
also be manifested in the personages of
angels and all higher ami Superior
Beings. The nature of the argument
is such, that if it holds good in regard
to the useful relations existing among
the different members of one person-
age, it must necessarily hold good in
regard to all other personages however
superior in their nature. Therefore if
the argument founded on design be
admissible, then all personages must
have had a beginning, not excepting
even the glorious personage of God the
Father. If the argument founded on
design proves that God the Father and
all other personages had a beginning,
then the only alternative left by which
to support the revealed fact of an end-
less Priesthood Avithout beginning, is
the theory of an end/ess succession of
personages, each in succession holding
the Priesthood. According to this
theory there could not be a first Per-
sonage, nor a first High Priest, neither
could there be an eternal Personage
who had no beginning. But each
152
CELESTIAL BfARRrASE.
person in the endless succession would
have- a beginning, and therefore would
exhibit the marks of design and pur-
pose in his construction. It will be
admitted by every one that a succes-
sion which has no beginning cannot
possibly have a first term. The High
Priesthood, therefore, is eternal, without
beginning, having come down through
an endless succession of worlds, peo-
pled by an endless succession of inhab-
itants : the Calling and Ordinance,
connected with it, are eternal also,
having no beginning.
As the High Priesthood had no be-
ginning, we have reason to believe that
the great plan of redemption also had
no beginning ; and that the law of the
Gospel is everlasting, having been ad-
ministered by an everlasting Priest-
hood in an endless succession of worlds
that have fallen. Where there is no
change of the Priesthood we should
reasonably suppose that there would
be no change of the law; and that
where one exists, the other exists also.
In receiving the gospel, we receive-
that eternal plan that had no origin —
a plan by which an endless succession
of worlds has been redeemed and glo-
rified, and the inhabitants thereof made
Kings and Priests to reign forever and
ever. And thus the works of God
who dwells in an infinite number of
tabernacles and worlds, are one eternal
round, without beginning, without end;
and thus also, all who receive the gos-
pel and this eternal Priesthood, and
are faithful to the end, and receive of
the fulness of the Father, will be Gods ;
for the fulness of Him who is from
everlasting will dwell in them, and
they in Him ; and henceforth they can
proclaim themselves, as not only de-
signed to be to everlasting, because they
continue, but also "from everlasting"
because the knowledge,, power, and
glory that are in them, together with
the Calling, Ordinance, and Priesthood
which are upon them, were from ever-
lasting.
EDITOR.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
{Continued.)
Love should be the predominant
ruling principle in all family govern-
ments. There is no danger of the
different members of a family loving
one another too much. They should
love one another with all their hearts,
and be willing, if required, to lay down
their lives for each other. God is love,
and He is the great fountain from
which the beings of all worlds derive
this heavenly attribute ; it flows out in
infinite streams, imparting joy and hap-
piness to the whole universe, so far as
it is received, nourished, and cherished
by intelligent beings. Love, like all
other gifts of God, can be cultivated
and increased, or it can be neglected
and diminished : it is subject to the
control of the other faculties of the
mind : it is not a principle such as is
often described in novels, which acts
irresistably, forcing all the other pow-
ers of the mind into subjection. The
love which the sexe3 have for each
other is implanted within them by
Him who is the God of love. GoJ
controls this attribute of His nature
according to wisdom, Justice, mercy,
and every other attribute which He
possesses. He has prescribed laws for
the government of His own attributes ;
and he never suffers himself to love
that which is evil or sinful, but always
loves that which is good, and virtuous,
and upright : so likewise ought man to*
control his love by the attributes of his
nature, according to the laws which
God has given, and never suffer him-
self to love anything which is evil, or
which God has forbidden.
Man should love all the wives which
God may give him with a perfect love :
it is impossible for him to love them
too Avell, providing that his love is-
regulated and controlled in all things-
according to the law of righteousness*.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
153
But can a man love more than one
wife with all his heart ? Yes ; he can
love each one that God gives him with
all his heart ; and if he have a hun-
dred, he can love them all with the
same intensity that he would love one.
It is true, he could not give the same
attention to a hundred that he could
to one ; this would not arise from the
want of love, but it would be from the
nature of the circumstances. If a man
have a dozen children, he can love each
one of them as much as he loves one ;
but he cannot pay the same attention
to a plurality of children as he could
to one; it is not because his love is
divided or weakened by the numbers,
but it is because of the circumstances.
If God had given a man but one wife,
it would be his duty to love her with
all his heart ; and it would not be his
privilege to love any other woman as
a. wife. But if God confers a plurality
of wives upon a man, it would be sin-
ful for him not to love each one with
a perfect love, provided that they were
all equally worthy of his love. God
loves the children of men according to
their works, or according to the good
qualities which He perceives in them :
those who do the best he loves the best :
if they do equally well, He loves them
equally. Man should be exercised with
tin' same principle ; he should judge in
righteousness of the good qualities and
desires of his family, and should love
those the best who do the best. And
if any of his family err, he should still
love them the same as God loves his
family, though they may sometimes
err and go estray. God loves his fam-
ily, not for their errors and sins, but
because He sees that there are good
qualities existing in them, and trys to
save them from their sins; so man
should love his wives, not because of
their errors and imperfections, but be-
cause God has given them to him, and
because they, in the main, desire to do
right ; therefore, he should love them
and try to save them from their errors ;
and he should never love one. more than
another, unless they merit it.
As the man stands at the head of
the family, it is his duty to seek dili-
gently for wisdom, to know how to
govern his family according to the will
of God. Circumstances may some-
times be such that he may bestow his
attentions for a time more abundantly
upon certain portions of his family than
upon others ; this may arise, not from
any partiality or superior love which
he has for one above that of another,
but his judgment or the surrounding
circumstances may dictate this to be
the wisest course. At another -time,
he may, perhaps, reverse his attentions,
and be apparently partial towards those
whom he had seemed for a while to
neglect. In all these thing's, a husband
should be guided by his own judgment,
enlightened by the Spirit of Truth.
And in these things he should have
no rigid fixed laws, tmalterable, like
those of the Medes and Persians. So
far as the great principles of righteous-
ness are concerned, he should be fixed
and immovable ; but, in regard to his
conduct in his temporal affairs, and in
his domestic concerns, he should pre-
scribe no rules that will compel him to
act invariably in a certain way : this
should be left for circumstances and
the wisdom he has, to dictate and con-
trol ; and both wives and children
should be perfectly satisfied to have
the head of the family be in reality
the head, and do as seemeth to him
good ; and, as we have already stated,
if the head of the family errs in some
respects, it is better to yield to his will
than to arise in rebellion against the
order of family government which God
has established. If too much partiality
be used, and any flagrant violations of
the principles of right occur, there are
other authorities who can regulate the
husband ; for this is not the province
of the wives and children ; it is not for
them to dictate to the head, but to
pray for and administer to the head,
that, perad venture, through their kind-
ness and meekness, and willing obe-
dience, the head may be influenced to
do right. Mutual love should exist
between a husband and his wives ; for,
without this, God's order of family
government cannot be maintained.
But can several wives love one and
the same man as their husband ? Yes,
if he treat them in a way to merit their
154
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
confidence and love. There is no more
difficulty in several women loving one
husband than there is in several per-
sons loving our Lord and Saviour. God
is the Author of sexual or conjugal
love, the same as He is of all other
kinds of pure love ; and if He unites
several women to one man in the sa-
cred bonds of matrimony, it is their
duty to cultivate and increase the
heavenly principle of pure love to their
husband, until they love him with all
their hearts, even as they love God ;
and he should love them in return,
even as he loves God. There is no
evil in love ; but there is much evil
resulting from the want of love. No
woman should be united in marriage
with a man unless she have some love
for him ; and if she love him in a small
degree, this is capable of being in-
creased to perfection. Any woman
who loves righteousness can and does
love a man who works righteousness ;
and she can, by cultivating this love,
be happy in his society, as a friend and
as a brother ; and if she were united
to him in marriage, she could love him
as a husband ; and if he were worthy,
her love towards him may be increased
until the perfect day. So it is with
man. There is not a righteous good
woman in the Church of God but what
a righteous man loves as a friend and
a sister; and if he were lawfully united
to her in marriage, he could love her
as a wife ; and this love, by cultiva-
tion and mutual kindness, would grow
stronger and stronger, until they were
perfected in love.
But cannot a woman love many men
as well as for a man to love many wives ?
We answer, that love is under the con-
trol of both the sexes ; they are agents
in the cultivation and exercise of this
affection, as in the cultivation and ex-
ercise of all the other attributes of their
nature. A man has no right to love
any woman as a wife unless God shall
give her to him in marriage ; he has
power, as an agent, to limit his love
where God limits it ; and if he go
beyond those limits he transgresses.
So likewise a woman is limited by the
law of God to one husband ; and she
has no right to suffer her love to a;o
beyond those limits. Her love is un-
der the control of her agency, and it
must be confined where the law of God
confines it, otherwise there is transgres-
sion. A man loves many wives be-
cause God gives him many ; and he is
required to love them, or become a
transgressor. If God required a woman
to have many husbands, or permitted
her to have a plurality, it would then
be her duty to cultivate the principle
of love towards them all; but this
would not be an easy task, unless the
woman were ntade the head of the
family ; for one cannot serve two mas-
ters. And, as the husband stands as
the master of the house, if a woman
had two husbands or masters, she
would be sure, according to the words
of Christ, "to hate the one and love
the other," for no one can love and
serve two masters ; but two can love
one master ; yes, a hundred wives can
love one master or husband, for he is
their head, even as Christ is the great
Master and Head of the Church. As
Christ is one, and is the Great Bride-
groom, being married unto many, so
likewise the man, being one husband,
one bridegroom, may be married unto
many. As the bride of Christ con-
sists of a plurality of persons, so the
bride of each of his faithful servants
may consist of a plurality of individu-
als. The bride of Christ, though a
plurality of persons, should be one in
spirit, in love, and in good works ; so
likewise the bride of each of his ser-
vants, however many persons, should
be perfectly one in their love and union
of spirit.
What can be more heavenly and
God-like than to see a well regulated
family, governed in wisdom and right-
eousness ! It is the commencement of
heaven on earth ! — it is an organization
destined to be eternal ! The first born
is represented in Scripture as the be-
ginning of one's strength ; how much
greater will be his strength when he
has a great number of wives and chil-
dren ! A foundation is then laid for a
patriarchal kingdom, which shall in-
crease in numbers without end, over
which he will reign forever. How
great reason has such a man to rejoice !
CFXESTIAL MARRIAGE.
155
How thankful ought lie to be for the
wives which God has given him,
through whom he can multiply his
seed as the stars of heaven ! What
joy and happiness it must give him to
love so numerous a family, and to know
that he is loved by them in return !
Love is a principle, like knowledge,
which can be imparted without dimin-
ishing the fountain from which it ema-
nates. Love, in other words, begets
love. We love that which is congenial
to our minds ; if we love purity and
virtue in ourselves, we will love them
in others ; and when it is known by
others that we love them, because of
their virtue and goodness, they will
love us for like reasons ; thus love,
when founded upon true principle, is
reciprocal. Virtue loveth virtue, truth
embraceth truth, knowledge cleaveth
unto knowledge ; every good and
heavenly attribute of our own nature
Ave love when we see the same mani-
fested by other beings. We love these
virtues in either men or women. Sex-
ual love, without the accompanying
virtues, is not to be indulged, as it leads
to evil. God has ordained that pure
and virtuous love should be incorpor-
ated with sexual love ; that, by the
combination of the two, permanent
unions in the marriage covenant may
be formed, and the species be multi-
plied in righteousness. Pure and vir-
tuous love should always exist between
a husband and each of his wives, as
well as sexual love : this will have a
tendency to impress more permanently
mind these heavenly principles upon the
and constitution of the offspring; for
the offspring will partake, in a greater
or less degree, of the propensities and
affections of the parents. How care-
ful, then, ought the parents to be, lest
they impress a disposition and tend-
ency in the offspring that are calcu-
lated, if not strongly guarded, to ruin
and destroy them as they grow up to
act for themselves. God will hold
parents accountable for these things,
because they are principles over which
the}r, as agents, have control. Every
good principle which you would have
your children inherit, should be pre-
dominant and reigu in your own bos-
oms ; for, though the spirits are pure
and heavenly when they enter the in-
fant tabernacle, yet they are extremely
susceptible of influences either for good
or for bad. The state of the parents'
minds at the time of conception, and
the state of the mother's mind during
her pregnancy, will be constitutionally
impressed upon the offspring, bringing
with it consequences which, in a de-
gree, have a bearing upon the future
destiny of the child.
Love, with all the other virtues,
should predominate in the bosoms of
parents, in order that the same virtues
may be inherited by the children. They
should be infused into the very consti-
tution of the child when in embryo ;
they should be instilled into the mind
from infancy to manhood, that they
may become incorporated as fixed and
immovable principles in the mind of
man, governing and controlling all the
future actions of his life. In such
children parents will have joy : they
will be the strength of their patriarchal
government; the honor and crow iw of
their old age ; their hope and glory in
the resurrection ; their foundation of
an endless increase of kingdoms over
whom they will reigu forever, and with
whom they will be associated as God's
throughout the endless ages of eternhy.
Instead of a plurality of wives being
a cause of sorrow to females, it is one
of the greatest blessings of the last
dispensation : it gives them the great
privilege of beino- united to a right-
eons man, and of rearing a family ac-
cording to the order of heaven. In-
stead of being compelled to remain
single, or marry a wicked man who
will ruin her and her oft'spring, she
can enter a family where peace and
salvation reign; where righteousness
abounds ; where the head of the fam-
ily stands forth as a patriarch, a prince,
and a saviour to his whole household ;
where blessings unspeakable and eter-
nal are sealed upon them and their
generations after them; her glory is
eternal and her joy is full. Rejoice,
then, ye daughters of Zion, that you
live in this glorious era ! Rejoice for
yourselves and for your generations,
because of the high honors and privi-
156
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
legos conferred upon you ! Rejoice
that you have entered into blessings
which have been withheld for many
ages past because of wickedness ! Re-
joice and sing for gladness of heart in
the glorious prospects which open be-
fore you ! Rejoice in the mountains
and dales of Utah ! for it is the land
of your freedom, where the iron yoke
of Romish and Protestant superstitions
will be broken from your necks ; where
you will have the privilege of uniting
your eternal destiny with the man of
your choice ; where virtue will reign
triumphant, and the vile seducer be
unknown ; where confidence shall wax
stronger and stronger, being cemented
by the love of God ! Happy are the
daughters of Zion ! They would not
exchange their condition with the
queens of the earth ! Worldly honors
and worldly riches are not worthy to
be compared with the blessings that
they enjoy ! They love their husbands,
and their husbands love them ; and
this love is far greater than the love
which dwells in the hearts of the
wicked. The children of Zion love
in proportion to the heavenly knowl-
edge which they have received ; for
love keeps pace with knowledge, and
as the one increases so does the other ;
and when knowledge is perfected, love
will be perfected also. The wicked
are not capable of loving in as great
a degree as the righteous, because they
are destitute of the knowledge of God,
and do not appreciate wives or chil-
dren as they ought. They do not
fully realize the end and purpose of
of the Almighty in joining the sexes
in holy matrimony ; and without a
knowledge of these things they can-
not love as the righteous ; for love is
of God, and they who live nearest to
the Lord will love most ; and they
who love most will be the most happy.
If we should inquire what consti-
tutes the misery of the fallen angels,
the answer would be, they are desti-
tute of love ; they have ceased to love
God ; they have ceased to have pure
love one towards another ; they have
ceased to love that which is good.
Hatred, malice, revenge, and every
evil passion have usurped the place of
love ; and unhappiness, wretchedness,
and misery, are the results. Where
there is no love, there will be no desire
to promote the welfare of others. In-
stead of desiring that others may be
happy, each desires to make all others
miserable like himself; each seeks to
gratify that hellish disposition against
the Almighty which arises from his
extreme hatred of that Avhich is good.
For the want of love the torment of
each is complete. All the wicked who
are entirely overcome by these ma-
licious spirits will have the heavenly
principle of love wholly irradicated
from their minds, and they will become
angels to these infernal fiends, being
captivated by them, and compelled to
act as they act. They cannot extri-
cate themselves from their power, nor
ward off the fiery darts of their ma-
licious tormentors. Such will be the
condition of all beings who entirely
withdraw themselves from the love of
God. As love decreases, wickedness,
hatred, and misery increases ; and the
more wicked individuals or nations be-
come, the less capable are they of lov-
ing others and making them happy ;
and vice versa, the more righteous a
people become the more they are quali-
fied for loving others and rendering
them happy. A wicked man can have
but little love for his wife ; while a
righteous man, being filled with the
love of God, is sure to manifest this
heavenly attribute in every thought
and feeling of his heart, and in every
word and deed. Love, joy, and inno-
cence will radiate from his very counte-
nance, and be expressed in every look.
This will beget confidence in the wife
of his bosom, and she will love him
in return; for love begets love; hap-
piness imparts happiness ; and these
heaven-born emotions will continue to
increase more and more, until they are
perfected and glorified in all the ful-
ness of eternal love itself.
Could wicked and malicious beings,
who have irradicated every feeling of
love from their bosoms, be permitted
to propagate their species, the offspring
would partake of all the evil, wicked,
and malicious nature of their parents.
However pure the spirits might be,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
157
■when permitted to enter such degraded
tabernacles, yet, being extremely sus-
ceptible to influences, they ■would
speedily partake of all the evil nature
"which characterized the spirits of the
father and mother : thus they would
soon become devils incarnated in flesh
and bones. Such would be the dread-
ful consequences of offspring, brought
into existence by parents destitute of
the principles of love, like the fallen
angels. The same consequences, to a
certain degree, would result from the
multiplication of wicked parents. In
proportion as the pure love of God is
irradiated from their hearts, the un-
holy passions take the place thereof,
and the offspring partake of these un-
lovely principles which are engendered
in the nature and constitution of the
infant tabernacle, and begin to act
upon the pure spirit that takes up its
abode therein, forming, modifying, and
and bending, in a great measure, its
inclinations, until, by the time that it
grows up to know good from evil, it
becomes prepared to plunge headlong
into all the vices of its ungodly pa-
rents : thus the parents, for the want
of that holy and pure affection which
exists in the bosom of the righteous,
not only destroy their own happiness,
but impress their own degraded and
unlovely passions upon the constitu-
tion of their offspring. It is for this
reason that God will not permit the
fallen angels to multiply : it is for this
reason that God has ordained marri-
ages for the righteous only : it is for
this reason that God will put a final
stop to the multiplication of the wick-
ed after this life,, it is for this reason
that none but those who have kept
the celestial law will be permitted to
multiply after the resurrection : it is
for this reason that God has ordained
that the righteous shall have a plural-
ity of wives ; for they alone are pre-
pared to beget and bring forth offspring
whose bodies and spirits, partaking of
the nature of the parents, are pure and
lovely, and will manifest, as they in-
crease In years, those heaven-born ex-
cellencies so necessary to lead them to
happiness and eternal life. 7*.
The Celestial male and female, after
the resurrection, will be perfected in
knowledge, and in holiness, and in
pure affection and love: they will
know as God knows ; be pure as He
is pure, and love as He loves: their
knowledge, their purity, and their af-
fections, before their celestial glorifica-
tion, will increase alike, and keep pace
with each other, until they are per-
fected, when they will enjoy in fulness
every attribute and affection which
God himself enjoys, and will be like
Him in all these tilings. Then, and
not till then, will they be permitted to
propagate that higher order of beings
called spirits. As the character of
parents in this life is impressed, in a
great measure, upon their children, so
likewise the character of the celestial
parents will be incorporated in the
very being of their spirit offspring.
The unorganized spirit-matter will not
only take the form or image of the
celestial parents, but every particle
thereof will begin to develope the
germs of all those eternal attributes
which dwell in all their fulness in
both father and mother.
If beings who are not perfected
should have the privilege of propa-
gating a spirit offspring, they could
not impress the organized spirit em-
bryo with the elements of those higher
attributes which appertain to the celes-
tial ; and, consequently, if the germ
of the infant spirit were conceived and
fashioned in imperfection, the super-
structure or infant spirit itself could
never advance to perfection. The eter-
nal attributes must be properly devel-
oped, in order that they may be prop-
erly perfected ; this is the reason why
none but those who attain to the ful-
ness of celestial glory, and become
God's, will be entrusted with wives,
and with power to propagate sons and
daughters ; that this, the most import-
ant of all things — the organizatian of
immortal spirits, may be brought about
through the highest, and most exalted,
and most glorious personages in the
universe, that they may infuse into the
very constitution of their beloved chil-
dren the germs of all the great, and
158
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
pure, and sublime attributes which are
perfected in all their fulness in them-
selves.
If none but Gods will be permitted
to multiply immortal children, it fol-
lows that each God must have one or
more wives. God, the Father of our
spirits, became the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ according- to the flesh.
Hence, the Father saith concerning
him, " Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee." We are informed in
the first chapter of Luke, that Mary
was chosen by the Father as a choice
virgin, through whom He begat Jesus.
The angel said unto the Virgin Mary,
"The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the Llighest
shall overshadow thee : therefore, also,
that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God."
After the power of the Highest had'
overshadowed Mary, and she had by
that means conceived, she related the
circumstance to her cousin Elizabeth
in the following words : '• He that is
Mighty hath done to me great things ;
and holy is His name1" It seems from
this relation that the Holy Ghost ac-
companied "the Highest" when He
overshadowed the Virgin Mary and
begat Jesus ; and from this circum-
stance some have supposed that the
body of Jesus was begotten of the
Holy Ghost without the instrumental-
ity of the immediate presence of the
Father. There is no doubt that the
Holy Ghost came upon Mary to sanc-
tify her, and make her holy, and pre-
pare her to endure the glorious presence
of "the Highest," that when "He"
should "overshadow" her she might
conceive, being filled with the Holy
Ghost ; henee the angel said, as re-
corded in Matthew, "That which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost;"
that is, the Holy Ghost gave her
strength to abide the presence of the
Father without being consumed ; but
it was the personage of the Father
who begat the body of Jesus ; and
for this reason Jesus is called "the
Only Begotten of the Father;" that
is, the only one in this world whose
fleshly body was begotten by the
Father. There were millions of sons
and daughters whom He beo-at before
the foundation of this world, but they
were spirits, and not bodies of flesh
and bones ; whereas, both the sjurit
and body, of Jesus were begotten by
the Father — the spirit having been
begotten in heaven many ages before
the tabernacle was begotten upon the
earth.
The fleshly body of Jesus required
a Mother as well as a Father. There-
fore, the Father and Mother of Jesus,
according to the flesh, must have been
associated together in the capacity of
Husband and Wife ; hence the Virgin
Mary must have been, for the time
being, the lawful wife of God the
Father : we use the term lawful Wife,
because it would be blasphemous in
the highest degree to say that He
overshadowed her or begat the Saviour
unlaw fulh'. It would have been un-
lawful for any man to have interfered
with Mary, who was already espoused
to Joseph ; for such a heinous crime
would have subjected both the guilty
parties to death, according to the law
of Moses. But God having created
all men and women, had the most per-
fect right to do with His own creation,
according to His holy will and pleasure :
He had a lawful right to overshadow
the Virgin Marvin the capacity of. a
husband, and beget a Son, although
she was espoused to another ; for the
law which lie gave to govern men
and women was not intended to gov-
ern Himself, or to prescribe rules for
his own conduct. It was also lawful
in Him, after having thus dealt with
Mary, to give her to Joseph her es-
poused husband. Whether God the
Father gave Mary to Joseph for time
only, or for time and eternity, we are
not informed. Inasmuch as God was
the first husband to her, it may be that
He only gave her to be the Avife of
Joseph while in this mortal state, and
that He intended after the resurrection
to again take her as one of his own
wives to raise up immortal spirits in
eternity.
As God the Father begat the fleshly
body of Jesus, so He, before the world
began, begat his spirit. As the body
required an earthly Mother, so his
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
159
spirit required a heavenly Mother. As
God 'associated in the capacity of a
husband with the earthly mother, so
likewise He associated in the same ca-
pacity with the heavenly one. Earthly
things being in the likeness of heavenly
things; and that which is temporal
being in the likeness of that which is
eternal ; or, in other words, the laws
of generation upon the earth are after
the order of the laws of generation in
heaven. But if we have a heavenly
Mother as well as a heavenly Father,
is it not right that we should worship
the Mother of our spirits as well as the
Father \ No ; for the Father of our
spirits is at the head of His household,
and His wives and children are re-
quired to yield the most perfect obe-
dience to their great Head. It is law-
ful for the children to worship the King
of Heaven, but not the "Queen of
heaven." The children of Israel were
severely reproved for making offerings
to the " Queen of heaven." Although
she is highly exalted and honored as
the beloved bride of the great King,
yet the children, so far as we are in-
formed, have never been commanded
to pray to her or worship her. Jesus
prayed to His Father, and taught His
disciples to do likewise ; but we are
nowhere taught that Jesus prayed to
His heavenly Mother : neither did he
pray to the Holy Ghost as his Father.
If He were begotten by the Holy
Ghost, then He would have called him
His Father ; but, instead of doing so,
the Holy Ghost himself was subject
unto Jesus ; and He had power to send
him as His minister after he returned
to his Father.
Next let us enquire whether there
are any intimations in Scripture' con-
cerning the wives of Jesus. We have
already, in the 9th No. of this volume,
spoken of the endless increase of
Christ's government. Now, we have
no reason to suppose that this increase
would continue, unless through the
laws of generation, whereby Jesus,
like His Father, should become the
Father of spirits ; and, in order to be-
come the Father of spirits, or, as Isaiah
says, " The Everlasting Father," it is
necessary that He should have one or
more wives by whom lie could multi-
ply His seed, not for any limited period
of time, but forever and ever : thus He
truly would he a Father everlasti n ghj,
according to the name which was to
be given Him. The Evangelists do
not particularly speak of the marriage
of Jesus; but this is not to be wondered
at, for St. John says : " There are also
many other things which Jesus did,
iln' which, if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the
world itself could not contain the books
that should be written." (John 21 :
25.) One thing is certain, that there
were several holy women that greatly
\o\ ed Jesus — such as Mary, and Martha
her sister, and Mary Magdalene; and
Jesus greatly loved them, and associated
with them much ; and when He arose
from the dead, instead of first showing
Himself to His chosen witnesses, the
Apostles, He appeared first to these
women, or at least to one of them —
namely, Mary Magdalene. Now, it
would be very natural for a husband
in the resurrection to appear first to
his own dear wives, and afterwards
show himself to his other friends. If
all the acts of Jesus were written, we
no doubt should learn that these be-
loved women were his wives. Indeed,
the Psalmist, David, prophesies in
particular concerning the Wives of the
Son of God. We quote from the Eng-
lish version of the Bible, translated
about three hundred and fifty years
ago : " All thy garments smell of
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia : when
thou contest out of the ivory palaces,
inhere they have made thee glad, Kings'1
daughters were among thine honorable
WIVES : upon thy right hand did
stand the QUEEN in a vesture of gold
of Ophir? (Psalm 45:8, 9.) That
this passage has express reference to
the Son of God and His Wives, will
be seen by reading' the sixth and sev-
enth verses which are as follows :
"Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever : the sceptre of thy kingdom is a
right sceptre. Thou lovest righteous-
ness, and hatest wickedness : therefore
God, thy God, hath annointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows." This Being:, whom the Psalm-
160
NOTICE.
ist here calls God, is represented in the [ orahle Wives." King James' transla-
next verses as having- "honorable
Wives," If any should still doubt
whether this prophecy has reference
to the Son of God, they may satisfy
themselves by reading Paul's applica-
tion of these passages in the eighth
and ninth verses of the first chapter
of his epistle to the Hebrews : " But
unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, 0
God, is forever and ever ; a sceptre of
righteousness is the sceptre of thy
kingdom. Thou hast loved righteous-
ness and hated iniquity ; therefore God,
even thy God, hath annointed thee
■with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows." Paul applies the words of
the prophet David to the son of God,
to the annointed Messiah, who is
called God, and whose "throne is
forever and ever." Let it be remem-
bered, then, that the Son of God is
expressly represented as having " hon-
tors were not willing that this passage
should have a literal translation, ac-
cording to the former English render-
ing, lest it should give countenance to
Polygamy ; therefore they altered the
translation to honorable women instead
of wives; but any person acquainted
with the original can see that the first
translators have given the true render-
ing of that passage. Indeed, the very
next sentence most clearly demon-
strates this ; for the Son of God is
represented as having a "QUEEN"
standing upon His right hand, clothed
" in a vesture of gold." This Queen
is exhorted in the followino; endearing;
language ; " Hearken, O daughter, and
consider, and incline thine ear ; forget
also thine own people, and thy father's
house ; so shall the King greatly de-
sire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord ; and
worship thou Him." (Verses 10, 11.)
{To be continued.)
NOTICE.
The SEER will be continued for the year 1854, on the same terms as the
first volume. AW those who wish to become subscribers for the second vol-
ume should send in their names, address, and subscription money without de-
lay, as we desire to know immediately about how many copies of the first
number to publish, that we may not be under the necessity of issuing, at much
expense, a second edition to supply their demands. Our subscribers for the
first volume need not expect to receive the second without complying with the
terms of advance payment. Should any of our subscribers wish to emigrate
to Utah next season, they can, by notifying us of their intentions, receive the
balance of their numbers in that Territory without any additional expense.
Our agent for Utah is Orson Pratt, jr., Salt Lake City. All subscribers in
that Territory, by forwarding to our agent there $1 in advance, will receive
their papers from him through the mail or otherwise, as they may direct.
Every family of the Saints should take the SEER. And those who have
means should take one copy for each of their children, for they will be greatly
sought after in years to come, when they cannot be obtained without the ex-
pense of reprinting.
All the back numbers of the first volume can still be obtained. — Editor.
CONTENTS.
Power and Eternity of the Priesthood 145
Celestial Marriage 152
Notice 160
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published bt Orsox Pratt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
1m
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
liftcth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
NOVEMBER, 1853.
No. 11.
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT,
To the Saints scattered throughout the United States and British Provinces —
Greeting :
Dear Brethren: With a heart full
of gratitude to the great Giver of every
good and perfect gift, for His manifold
mercies and blessings so liberally be-
stowed upon His people in the last
days, I again attempt to communicate
to you, through the medium of an
Epistle, such items of intelligence and
instruction, as will, no doubt, be inter-
esting to you to learn.
Utah, the great central gathering
place for the Saints throughout the
world, is in a very prosperous and flour-
ishing condition: her settlements are
rapidly extending throughout the
breadth of the Territory, north and
south. This Territory is included be-
tween the parallels of 37° and 42°
North, and between the meridians of
29° and 43° West of Washington; or
in other words, it is about 350 miles
broad from North to South, and about
650 miles long from East to West, in-
cluding an area of about 225,000 square
miles. The Legislature, during its first
session, in 1852, divided the Territory
into twelve counties, namely: Weber,
Davis, Desert, Green River, Great Salt
Lake, Utah, Tooele, Juab, Millard, San
Pete, Iron, and Washington. These
counties are mostly bounded by meri-
dians and parallels of latitude, and in-
clude the whole Territory. By far the
greater portion of this Territory consists
of mountains and deserts entirely unfit
for the habitation of man or animals.
In the midst of these dreary wastes,
may be seen, here and there, beautiful
and fertile valleys, watered by crystal
streams, formed by the melting snows
which are deposited, during the winter,
in vast abundance upon the surrounding
mountains. During the summer, it is
seldom that a sufficient quantity of rain
falls for farming purposes ; hence, the
husbandman is obliged to resort to the
process of irrigation: this is accom-
plished by forming artificial canals and
channels in which the water is conveyed
from the higher elevations near the base
of the mountains to the lower portions
towards the centres of the valleys, and
is used at such times and in such quan-
tities, as are considered necessary by the
agriculturist.
Grains and vegetables of every de-
scription that are produced in the same
latitudes in the States, grow in the most
luxuriant abundance. Young fruit trees
seem to be thrifty and doing well : some
peaches have been produced for two or
three years past. It is one of the best
grazing countries in the world ; the fine
bunch grass will fatten cattle and
horses equal to grain : it is seldom that
farmers cut much hay, for the cattle
can generally find good grazing the
year round.
Timber for building purposes, is not
found in the valleys, but is procured
from the mountains, and consists prin-
cipally of pine and fir. Wood for fuel
162
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
is also generally obtained in the moun-
tains, although in some of the more
southern parts a scrubby cedar grows
in places in the valleys: it is quite ex*
pensive and tedious to procure the ne-
cessary timber and fuel. Coal and iron
ore abound in the southern counties,
and probably in many other places
where they are not yet discovered.
And most happily gold, silver, and
other precious metals do not, to any
great extent, trouble Utah's soil; or at
least, the people have not been so un-
fortunate as to discover them, during
the infancy of their settlements.
Many of the fresh water lakes and
larger streams are well stored with fish,
of which the salmon trout is the prin-
cipal, (lame is rather scarce ; although
in the mountains and uninhabited val-
leys there are occasionally seen some
few antelope, deer, elk, mountain sheep,
foxes, wolves, and grizly bears.- Large
quantities of wild fowl, principally
geese and ducks, abound in the vicini-
ty of lakes and water courses.
The climate in midsummer is dry
and hot; the thermometer, during the
middle of the day, frequently ranging,
in the shade, from 90° to 105° Fahren-
heit ; evenings and mornings generally
cool, being refreshed by mountain
breezes. The atmosphere is pure and
healthy, and very bracing and invigor-
ating to the system. That dreadful
scourge — the cholera — which has found
its way into almost every nook and cor-
ner of our globe, has not yet been per-
mitted to scale the summit of the
" everlasting hills," and enter those
healthful vales, 'the winters are mild.
Snow, seldom falling in the valleys but
a few inches in depth, soon disappears
under the warming influences of the
bright rays of the sun, as they pene-
trate, without much obstruction, the
serene, almost cloudless, and rarefied
atmosphere of that elevated region.
Spring and autumn are also mild ;
though given to more sudden transitions
from cold to heat, and from heat to
cold, than climates of the same latitudes
on the Atlantic coast. Vines, vege-
tables, corn, &c, are frequently injured
by untimely frosts. Winds are exceed-
ingly variable, shifting almost every day
to the four points of the compass : heavy
showers are rare, but wdien they do
come, they are generally accompanied
with thunder and hail, and sometimes
with strong winds.
The lowest of these vallies are ele-
vated more than 4000 feet above the
sea level ; while the elevation of some
of the more southern ones, where settle-
ments are formed, is near 6000 feet.
The mountains, in many places in the
immediate vicinity of the settlements,
tower up in rugged majestic grandeur
from 4000 to 7000 feet in perpendicu-
lar height above the vallies. The sum-
mits of these mountains, whitened with
eternal snows, glisten in the sunbeams
and exhibit sceneries of the most dazzling
splendor and picturesque beauty, as if
covered with the glories of heaven like
Sinai of old.
There are several small tribes or
rather bands of Indians, inhabiting dif-
ferent parts of the territory, who arc
sunk in the lowest depths of darkness,
degradation, and misery. These bands
wander over the territory, often robbing
and murdering one another, and steal-
ing whenever they have a favorable
opportunity. They live mostly on
berries, roots, crickets, fish, and such,
small game as they may be able to pro-
cure with the bow and arrow. They
are almost entirely naked. Sometimes,
though very rarely, they have tents or
wigwams formed of the skins of animals ;
but most generally they live in caves or
in a thick cluster of bushes without
much shelter except a few limbs of
small trees, bent down and loosely
covered with branches. Since the sett-
lement of the Saints in that territory,
their condition is being greatly im-
proved: many are beginning to labor
and thus furnish themselves with food,
and blankets, and in some instances
with houses which the saints have
erected for them: although of late,
through the treacherous, restless, and
warlike spirit of Walker, one of their
principal chiefs, they have been stirred
up to hostilities, and have committed
some depredations; but through the
wise and energetic policy of Gov.
Young in placing all the settlements
in a state of defense, and in giving
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
163
mik t counsel to the saints to act only
•on the defensive, it is to be hoped that
they will soon see their folly, and cease
their hostilities, and learn that the
saints are their friends, and not their
enemies.
The population of Utah numbers
from thirty to thirty-fiv-e thousand and
is annually increasing by the emigration
■of the saints from the different nations
©f the earth. A chain of settlements
have been formed extending north and
south some 350 miles. Many small
<cities have been founded and incorpo-
rated with certain powers and pri\ il< ges
by the Legislature. The following are
some of the principal villages and cities
of the territory, named in the order of
their succession, commencing on the
north : Brownsville, < >gden, Great Salt
Lake. Lehi, Provo, Springville, Nephi,
Manti, Fillmore, Parovan, and Cedar
cities, Fillmore city, being near the
centre of this chain of settlements, is
appointed as the seat of government,
'it which place the state house is being
built. Great Salt Lake city is by far
the largest and most populous in the
territory; it covers an area of several
square miles and contains from eight
to ten thousand inhabitants. Thestreets
are eight rods wide, crossing each other
at right angles, and running north and
south, east and west ; each block eon-
tains ten acres and is divided into eight
lots, each ten rods wide by twenty
long, affording an acre and one quarter
for a building spot and garden to each
family. One of these squares was re-
served for public buildings, on which a
tabernacle has been erected and com-
pleted that will accommodate about
■3000 persons. A temple also is to be
reared upon the same, the foundation
of which was laid on the sixth of April
last. This whole block is fast being
■enclosed by a high wall, encircling a
large public joiners' shop wdiich is to
be used in the construction of the temple.
With common prosperity and the bless-
ings of heaven in a few years will be
seen a large and magnificent temple
with its towers pointing towards heaven,
erected upon that lovely and conse-
crated spot. There are several other
public buildings in the city, among
which may be mentioned the Social
Hall and Council House; in the latter
oi' which the Legislature have as yet
held their sessions.
Great attention is being paid to the
erection of school houses, and the edu-
r at ion of youth. And it is to be
fondly hoped, that the rising generation
in Utah will be generally and thoroughlv
educated in every useful branch of learn-
in g and science. A foundation is being
laid, broad and deep, to accomplish
this most desirable object. It is in
contemplation to erect a magnificent
University in which the higher depart-
ments of science will be extensively
taught ; that Utah, being filled with
the knowledge of heaven and earth,
may be as a great light upon the mount-
ains which shall be seen by the nations
afar off, and cause many of them to ex-
claim, " Come let us arise, and go up
unto the mountains of Zion, unto the
house of God of Jacob, that we also
may be taught in His ways and in-
structed in His paths; for there are no
people like the inhabitants of Zioii, full
of wisdom, knowledge, and power;
their laws are founded in justice, equity,
and truth ; and their officers execute
righteousness in the land ; peace and
salvation are within their borders; and
the Holy One of Israel is their strength
for evermore."
The most of the buildings in Utah
are constructed of " adobies " or sun-
dried brick which, when properly made,
are not only durable but impart beauty
to the edifices, erected with them,
giving them the appearance of stone.
Many good flouring mills are in ope-
ration, and also many saw mills. It is
the intention of the Saints to establish
manufactories of various descriptions,
and as much as possible produce within
themselves from the raw material, all
kinds of useful machinery, cloths, do-
mestics, prints, shawds, hats, leather,
pots, kettles, stoves, all kind of farming
utensils, hardware, earthen-ware, tin-
ware, chairs, tables, bedsteads, sugar,
paper, glass, nails, mechanic tools, and
every thing else which will tend to the
peace, comfort, welfare, prosperity, and
happiness of the territory. Many of
these branches of buisness are already
164
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
in successful operation ; and by proper
industry and j>erseverance, the Saints
will not, after a few years, be dependant
on foreign nations, or even the States,
for the necessaries and luxuries of life.
At present goods are purchased in
the States, and transported by wagons
across the plains at an expense of about
$250 per ton, which, added to the great
profits that merchants generally realize
by the sale of the same throughout the
territory, cause the various articles of
merchandize to be exceedingly expen-
sive.
Up to the present time, farmers have
found a ready market for all their sur-
plus grain and other productions through
the increased numbers of the saints
which annually pour into the territory,
and also through the overland California
emigration which, for the most part,
pass through Utah and recruit them-
selves with a fresh supply of provisions.
Horses, mules, cattle, and sheep, find
ready sale in California. The great
facilities, presented for raising stock
without much expense, will cause that
branch of buisness to be one of the
most profitable and lucrative of any in
the country.
It is required of all the Saints to
give one-tenth of all their property as
.tithing, which is given into the hands
of the principal Bishop or his agents to
be under the control of the First Presi-
dency of the Church for the erection of
church buildings and other public
works ; and also to be applied to what-
ever object may be considered for the
benefit of the Saints. The Saints also
are required to give one-tenth of their
annual income as tithing for the same
purposes as above specified.
Independent of the tithing, another
fund has been raised by the voluntary
donations of the Saints throughout the
world, called, " The Perpetual Emi-
grating Fund." This fund is intended
to assist the poor among the Saints in
gathering out from all nations. Those
whom the agents assist through the
medium of this fund, are required to
give a written bond or obligation, that
they will refund by their labour or
otherwise, after they arrive in Utah,
the amount which has been expended
for their benefit. By this policy, hun-
dreds of the poor are gathered annually,,
and still the fund in the end is not
diminished. It now amounts to up-
wards of thirty thousand dollars, and
will, no doubt, through the liberality of
the Saints, .shortly be swelled to ten
times that sum.
The Saints throughout the United
States and British Provinces are re-
quired to forward, by letter or other-
wise, their tithings to me, according to
the instructions of the First Presidency
in their letter of appointment to me,
published in the first No. of the first
volume of the Seer. Let all the Saints
remember, both rich and poor, that the
Lord requires them to give the value of
one-tenth part of all they possess. If
any Saint possess ten dollars, one dollar
of the same is the Lord's ; if he possess
ten millions of dollars, one million is the
Lord's. And let every Saint remember
that after he has given one-tenth of all
he possesses, he must still continue to
give each year one-tenth of his income ;
whether such income arises from labour,,
buisness, increase of stock, or in any
other way; one-tenth thereof is the
Lord's, and should be given to him
every year. How many of the Saints
in our field of labour are delinquents ?
How many have failed to comply with
the word of the Lord in regard to the
payment of their tithing ? Let them re-
member also that those whose names
are not found on the tithing Books, as
having paid up the full amount of their
tithing, can in no wise be permitted to
enter the holy temple and receive their
endowments ; those great and holy
temple ordinances, instituted from be-
fore the foundation of the world, as the
only means by which the Saints can be
exalted to the fulness of celestial glory,
will be withheld from them, until the
debt is cancelled : it is a debt which
you owe the Lord ; and it is for your
good to pay it : as for the faithful ser-
vants of God, it matters not to them
whether you pay your tithing or not ;
the Church can get along without it :
it is only for your own good that you
are exhorted to obey the Lord in this
thing, knowing that if you fail, you can-
not receive the blessing:.
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
1€5
All who wish to donate to the "Per-
petual Emigrating Fund" ean forward
their subscriptions to me, and the same
will be entered in our books which will,
in connection with the tithing books,
be handed over in due time to the
Bishop in Zion to be copied into the
general Records.
At a special conference held by the
Saints in Salt Lake City in August,
1852, about one hundred missionaries
were sent out to the various nations of
the earth ; twenty-five others were sent
forth by the general conference in April
last ; and doubtless many more have
received missions at the special con-
ference held in August last ; the pro-
ceedings of which have not yet reached
me.
The Book of Mormon has been trans-
lated and published in the Danish,
German, Italian, French, and Welsh
languages: a translation also is nearly
completed in the native tongue of the
Sandwich Islands. And instructions
have been given to the missionaries to
translate it into every language under
heaven as fast as time and circum-
stances will permit. The revelations
and commandments have also been
translated into several languages, as
well as numerous other publications of
the Church. A periodical, devoted to
the doctrine of the Saints has been
published for several years in the Welsh
language. Elder Stenhouse publishes
a monthly periodical in Switzerland in
the French: and another is being pub-
lished in Paris in the same language.
The '• Deserkt News," a semi-monthly
Newspaper, is published in Great Salt
Lake City at $5 per annum in advance.
The " Millennial Star " was com-
menced in England in 1840: it now
has a weekly circulation of about
eighteen thousand. Besides all these,
hundreds of thousands of pamphlets
have been widely circulated in the
British Isles, in Europe, Asia, Australia,
Pacific Islands, and Ameriea, illuci-
dating the doctrines of the Saints.
The Statistical Report of the Church
of the Saints in the British Islands for
the half year ending June 30th, 1S53,
gives the following total : 53 Confer-
ences, 737 branches, 40 Seventies, 10
High Priests, 2578 Elders, 1854 Priests,
1416 Teachers, 834 Deacons, 1776
Excommunicated, 274 dead, 1722 Emi-
grated, 2601 Baptized, 30690 Total.
In the Society Islands in the Spring
of 1852, the Saints numbered between
1500 and 2000: these were scattered
over some 20 Islands, and were greatlv
persecuted by the Roman Catholics and
the French authorities: many were
severely whipped; large numbers of
others closely confined ; and others still,
threatened with death: their only crime
consisted of meeting together for prayer.
At a conference, held on the 9th of
last March on one of the Sandwich Is-
lands, there were represented 18 Mis-
sionaries from Utah and about 1200
Saints who dwell on different Islands
of the group. From a letter, dated
April 26th, 1853, the work is rapidly
progressing at Honolulu, as many as
39 having been baptized in one day.
A branch of about 80 newly baptized
persons had just been organized.
In a letter from Elder Charles W.
Wandell, dated Sydney, March 29th,
1853, wre learn that there were upwards
of one hundred Saints in Australia.
A small company of 29 persons were
about to sail for California, on their way
to the Salt Lake.
On the 23d of July last, the French
Mission consisted of 4 Conferences, 9
branches, and a total of 307 members,
including officers.
The work in Italy, Switzerland, and
Germany is slowly, but steadily pro-
gressing. In Denmark, Sweden, and
Norway, persecution rages : the Saints
are whipped, imprisoned, and mobbed
for preaching, praying, and baptizing ;
and yet hundreds are constantly em-
bracing the doctrine. In Asia the work
progresses but slowly : but as there have
been a number of missionaries lately
sent to China, Hindostan, East Indies,
and Siam, it is likely that we shall, be-
fore many months, obtain good news
from them. At Malta many have been
baptized and the truth is spreading.
Baptisms have commenced at Gibralrer;
and at the Cape of Good Hope, some
are investigating the fulness of the
gospel.
A large company of Danish saints
166
SECOND EPISTLE OF ORSON PI? ATT.
Lave .already emigrated to Utah. A
few German Saints left Hamburgh the
13th of August, on their way to Salt
Lake.
A few are being baptized into the
church in several of the States, and in
the British Provinces.
A large colony of the Saints is
founded in Southern California under
the presidency of Amasa Lyman and
Charles C. Rich, two of the twelve.
I shall not attempt, in this short epis-
tle to give one hnndreth part of the
interesting news which begins to pour
in from all nations wherever the Latter-
Day Saint Missionaries are sent. Sure-
ly the Gospel will soon be preached as
a witness to all the world preparatory
to the coming of our Lord. What are
the Saints in the United States doing?
Are they asleep ? Have their lamps
gone out ? I marvel at the apparent
drowsiness and lethargy that stems to
hang heavily over some of them. But
this is not to be wondered at ; for many
that have had means, have neglected
the great command of God to gather
with His people : such can no more en-
joy the spirit of this work and the ap-
probation of heaven, than the wicked
ungodly sects with whom they are sur-
rounded. God will not give them His
Spirit until they manifest a sincere and
humble repentance of their disobedi-
ence, by gathering : let such beware,
lest in an hour they think not, the wrath
of God shall fall heavily upon them,
and they perish in their sins. God is
not to be mocked in this dispensation
by those who profess his name. They
will go forward in obedience to every
command, or go backward in coldness
and apostacy. And Oh, how awful is
the condition of them who apostatize
from this Church ! far better would it
have been for them, if they had never
been born, for they are to be cursed
with the heaviest of all cursings, be-
cause they sin against so great light.
Let the pie siding Elders of confer-
ences and branches in the states and
provinces seek diligently to purify their
own hearts, and cry mightily to God
for his Spirit ; after which, let them,
hunt up the Saints, and strengthen them
that are weak, and minister to them
who are ready to perish ; inquire ints»
the standing of every officer, and exhort
him to perform his duty : let the teach-
ers and deacons visit the members often,,
as instructed in the book of Covenants;
and let every branch meet often to pray,
and to hear the preaching of the word.
If any are in transgression, use every
means that the gospel requires to re-
claim them ; if they will not repent,
suffer them not to remain in the church.
Where there are organized confer-
ences, let the presiding officer of each
branch report to the president of the
conference in which sraeh branch is in-
cluded, the number of officers and mem-
bers in his branch : and let the presi-
dent of the conference report in writing
to our office in Washington the total
number of Blanches, Officers, and Mem-
bers in his conference. And where there
is no organized conference, let the pre-
sidents of branches, through the States
and Provinces, report by letter to us
the number of officers and members in
their respective branches, and also the
number of scattered members in the
•vicinity of each who are not organized
into branches.
Let the Presiding Officers of the con-
ferences exert themselves to procure sub-
scribers for the Seer, and for all the
church publications : let an agent be ap-
pointed in each branch to whom the
Seer, books, pamphlets, &c, shall be
addressed. In this way, it will be un-
necessary, in most of cases, to send to
me the names of subscribers ; I can
furnish the agent with whatever he may
order, and he can furnish the subscri-
bers. But in all cases, if the agent
would have his orders attended to, he
must forward to me the subscription
money in advance. By a little exer-
tion, the saints might obtain many sub-
scribers out of the church.
For the prosperity of the work I
would suggest that each branch raise a
subscription for the purpose of procur-
ing quantities of the various tracts-
which we have on hand, and which can
be circulated by lending them through
their respective neighborly ids, and thus
many may be brought to the knowledge
of the truth. This plan has been adopt-
ed with great success in England, and
SECOND EriSTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
107
in other parts of the world. In Eng-
land tract distributors go round once a
week, collecting such tracts as have
been formerly left, and leaving others
hi their stead: in this manner tens of
thousands learn the truth that would
•otherwise remain ignorant.
Every Elder and Priest should dili-
gently seek to open new doors for
preaehing, and labor with all patience
with the inhabitants, endeavoring to
persuade them to repentenee; it may
he that some few will repent, before
God shall visit the nation, according to
that which is decreed against them in
the Book of Mormon and otherrevela-
tions. At an\- rate, it isneeessary that
you should faithfully discharge every
duty in relation to them, that your gar-
ments may be clean in the day of visi-
tation, and that the sins of the people
may be upon their own heads.
Brethren of the Priesth 1, keep
yourselves pure and unspotted before
God; and if you know of any man in
the Chureh who already has a wife,
seeking to enter into covenant with any
other female, know assuredly that he
has transgressed, and unless he repent,
let him be eut off from the Church.
If vou find any persons advocating
the wicked impositions of Gladden
Bishop, of Charles B. Thompson in re-
gard to Baneemy, or of Strang, seek in
the spirit of meekness to reclaim them,
and if they will not repent excommuni-
cate them from the Church, and God
will soon show you the wickedness of
their hearts.
Have nothing to do with those per-
sons who deal with familiar spirits, un-
der the names of " Mesmerism," " Elec-
tro Biology,1' " Spirit Rappings," "Ta-
ble Movings," " Writing Mediums;1 &c;
for they will darken your minds, and
bring you to destruction: they are the
spirits of darkness let loose upon this
generation because of their wickedness ;
and they will increase more and more
upon the earth until the coming of
Christ, as the scriptures predict.
Let all the Saints use every exertion
to gather to Utah next season. The
time in which the companies of Saints
will start on their overland journey
across the plains, will be from the 10th
of May to the 1st of July. The general
place of rendesvous last emigration, was
at Keokuk on the Wis! bank of the
Mississippi river, about 200 miles above
St. Louis. The most of the saints at a
distance go by water to that place, pur-
chasing their wagons in St. Lonis, and
their teams in Illinois, Missouri, or Iowa.
Elder Horace S. Eldredge, the President
of the St. Louis Conference, will give
Counsel to all the emigrating Saints
who may pass through St. Louis in re-
gard to all things connected with their
outfit for the journey. Bro. Eldredge's
Post office address is as follows : Post
Box 333, St. Louis, Missouri. His resi-
dence is at 139 Market Street, up stairs.
The Saints should take with them
every variety of choice garden seeds;
and the seeds (.fall kinds of good fruit ;
and also the chesnut, hickerynut, black
walnut, butternut, and various other
kinds of nuts. Among other things do
not forget the different kinds of the
best grass and clover seed. The seeds
of the various kinds of useful herbs
should be remembered. And finally,
every thing in the vegetable depart-
ment that would be useful for food or
medicine, or that would please the eye,
the taste, or the smell, or adorn and
beautify your habitations, your gardens,
or your fields, should be taken along
and planted in the soil of Utah.
Supply yourselves plentifully with
every variety of useful school books for
your children, together with historical
and scientific works of every descrip-
tion ; but leave novels and fictitious
works behind to satisfy the perverted
appetites of the children of darkness
whose souls delight in lies and fiction,
far above the great truths of heaven.
Let the Elders and officers preach
faith, repentance, baptism, and the first
principles of the Gospel, and such doc-
trines as are plain and easy to be under-
stood: and if the people wish to learn
the deep mysteries of the kingdom, let
them embrace the Gospel and go up
unto the mountain of the Lord's house.
If they wish to learn the particulars of
Celestial Marriage, baptism for the dead,
and such like doctrines, refer them to
our printed works where they can read
these thino-s at their leisure. Remein-
168
SECOND EFISTLE OF ORSON PRATT.
ber that you have not time to preach
and explain all these things to the peo-
ple ; for God has sent you to preach re-
pentence and the first principles of sal-
vation, and if mankind will not receive
these things, the greater things will be
of no benefit to them. There may be
times when you will have to defend
yourselves against the attacks of wicked
men upon these points : do, at such
times, as wisdom shall direct, and be
sure to connect your defense with such
plain principles of doctrine, as shall be
likely to do the people good. Wise
servants will follow good and wise coun-
sels, and will preach by the gift and
power of the Holy Ghost ; but those
who give no heed, will preach their
own folly both in precept and example.
The attention of the saints is called
to the list of L. D. Saint publications,
furnished in the Catalogue which has
been forwarded to them. The Saints
should liberally supply themselves and
their children with copies of each of
these works ; for they will be worth
more to them than gold, or silver, or
the rich treasures of the earth. The
Saints frequently transgress through ig-
norance : and this ignorance arises from
a neglect to procure and read the Church
publications : such ignorance is inex-
cusable ; and such transgressions will,
if not repented of, be punished.
The signs of the times are portentious
and clearly indicate the approaching
downfall of the nations, and the over-
turning of kingdoms, empires, and re-
publics, preparatory to the coming of
Christ and his personal reign on the
earth. Every individual, therefore, of
the Saints should be awake to perform
quickly and in righteousness every duty
required of them.
Among other things, there are many
of the saints who give no heed, in the
least, to what God has said in a revela-
tion, entitled, " The Word of Wisdom;"
they treat it with perfect indifference ;
vea, worse, some even boast of their dis-
obedience to this advice, and almost
laugh at those who attempt to obey it.
Poor creatures! the day will come
when they will mourn and lament, and
that too, when it is too late to retrieve
an ill spent life ; when the destroying
angel will teach them that every word
of God means something, and that none
of his sayings can be neglected with
impunity. There must be a great refor-
mation amoncr all the Saints in regard
to this thing, as well as in many others,
before they can expect to enjoy many
of the great blessings of the last days.
There are others who call themselves
Saints who neither pray in their fami-
lies nor in secret, but are as cold as the
northern blast, in regard to their duties
towards God, towards their families, and
towards the Church. Such had far
better lie out of the Church than in it ;
for God will spue them out of his mouth,
as corrupt fruit which has lost its flavor.
There are others whose names are
enrolled among the Saints, who think
more of their property than they do of
salvation. Such say in their hearts, " we
will wait a while before we gather up to
Utah ; it may be that the Saints will
be driven again, and we shall lose our
property, if we go. We can tell better
how things will be in a few years to
come, and if we think our property will
be safe, we will venture up." Woe unto
such, for unless they speedily repent,
they shall perish and their property
with them. Such coveteous hypocrites
are not worthy of the kingdom of God
or any of its blessings, but they will go
down to hell to keep company with
the rich man, instead of being gathered
into Abraham's bosom with poor Laza-
rus. The Saints must learn one lesson,
namely, that all who desire to enter the
kingdom of God must be willing to sa-
crifice all things for the sake thereof;
and he that is not willing to do this will
surely fail, and his hopes will wither
away and perish.
Finally, dear brethren, let me exhort
you with all the earnestness of an hum-
ble servant of God who is deeply inter-
ested for your salvation, to refrain from
every evil — to be examples of righteous-
ness before saints and sinners. Read
the Book of Mormon, and the revela-
tions and prophecies, given through the
prophet Joseph, and obey the same.
Give the rao^ earnest heed to the
counsels of th I 'irst Presidency — to the
twelve, and to all the faithful authori-
ties of the Church. Use every exertion
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
169
to flee out from the corruptions of the
Gentiles, and to obtain for yourselves an
everlasting inheritance among the»peo-
ple of God ; for the day of the wicked
is far spent — their sun will soon go down
in the midst of clouds and thick dark-
ness-— a long and dreary night awaits
them : but upon such as fear the Lord
and keep his commandments, the sun
of righteousness will arise, and their day
will be Q-lurious; for their sun shall no
more go down ; and God will be unto
them an everlasting light which shall
shine for evermore. With the most
earnest desire for your salvation, both
temporally and spiritually, I subscribe
myself your most humble servant in
the kingdom of God,
ORSON PRATT.
Washington D, C,
October 1st., 1853.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
(Continued.)
Notwithstanding the Queen is num-
bered among the "honorable Wives"
of the Son of God, yet she is called
upon to Worship Him as her Lord.
If her husband were a mere man, she
would not be exhorted to Worship
him ; this therefore, is another evi-
dence that He was truly, as Paul says,
the S.iii of God.
Inasmuch as the Messiah was to have
a "plurality of Wives" will they not all
be Queens ? Yes : but there will be
an order among them. One seems
to be chosen to stand at his right
hand : Perhaps she may have merited
that high station by her righteous
acts, or by the position she had previ-
ously occupied. It seems that she
was one of the daughters of a king :
for in the same Psalm it says, "The
king's daughter is all glorious within :
her clothing is of wrought gold. She
shall be brought unto the King in rai-
mant of needle work : the virgins her
companions that follow her shall be
brought unto Thee. With gladness
and rejoicing shall they be brought :
they shall enter into the King's pal-
ace." (verses 13-15.) It must be re-
collected that " kings' daughters were
among Thine honorable Wives." The
kings here spoken of were no doubt
those who through obedience to the
gospel became kings and priests for
ever : for we cannot suppose that
Christ would marry the daughters of
the kings of this world who only reign
under the pretended name of kings for
this short life : such are not worthy to
be called kings. Some of the daughters
of those kings who are to reign on the
earth for ever and ever, and who are
in reality kings, will be among His
"honorable wives," one being chosen
to stand as Queen at His right hand
and worship Him, unto whom is
made the following promise: "Instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children,
whom thou mayest make Princes in
all the earth. I will make thy name
to be remembered in all generations :
therefore shall the people praise thee
for ever and ever." (verses 16, 17.)
We are not informed at what time
Jesus was to be married to this king's
daughter or to any of the rest of His
wives. But from what John the Bap-
tist says, He may have been married
to some of them previous to that proph-
ets martyrdom : The passage is as fol-
lows ; " He that hath the Bride is the
Bridegroom : but the friend of the
Bridegroom, which standeth and hear-
eth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the Bridegroom's voice : this my joy
therefore is fulfilled. He must increase,
but I must decrease." (John 3 : 29, 30.)
And again, " Jesus said unto them,
Can the children of the bridechamber
mourn, as lono- as the Bridegroom is
with them \ but the days will come, when
the Bridegroom shall be taken from
them, and then shall they fast." (Ma-
thew 9 : 15.) John represents Jesus
as already in the possession of the
Bride; while the Saviour confirms
170
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
what John says, by calling- Himself
" the Bridegroom" and the disciples
"the children of the Bridechamber,"
but who the Bride was neither of them
informs us. Whether Jesus had mar-
ried any of His wives at that time or
not, it is very evident that there will
be a marriage of the Son of God at
the time of His second coming: for
Jesus said, " The kingdom of heaven
is like unto a certain king, which made
a marriage for his son, and sent forth
his servants to call them that were
bidden to the welding : and they
would not come. Again, he sent forth
other servants, saying, Tell them which
are bidden, Behold I have prepared
my dinner : my oxen and fallings are
killed, and all things are ready : come
unto the marriage. But they made
light of it, and went their ways, one to
his farm, another to his merchandise :
and the remnant took his servants, and
entreated them spitefully and slew
them. But when the king heard
thereof, lie was wroth : and he sent
forth his armies, and destroyed those
murderers, and burned up their city.
Then saith he to his servants, The
wedding is ready, but they which
were bidden were not worthy. Go ye
therefore into the highways, and as
many as ye shall find bid them to the
marriage. So those servants went out
into the highways, and gathered to-
gether all as many as they found, both
bad and good : and the wedding was
furnished with guests. And when the
king came in to see the guests, he saw
there a man which had not on a wed-
ding garment : and he saith unto him,
Friend how earnest thou in hither not
having a wedding garment I And he
was speechless. Then said the king to
his servants, Bind him hand and foot,
and take him away ami east him into
outer darkness ; there si all be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. For many are
called, but few are chosen." (Matthew
22: 1-14.) All will admit that the
king's son, here spoken of, is Jesus
Christ, and that the last servants who
are sent forth have a commission to
gather together from the high aj
and hedges both bad and good : and
that by this gathering, " the wedding
was furnished with guests." The
Bridegroom, the servants, and the
guests are all mentioned ; but the
parable does not inform us who the
Bride is. John the Revelator des-
cribes the greatness, the glory, and
the magnificence of this marriage cel-
ebration. He says, " And I heard as
it were the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thunderings,
saying, Alleluia : for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad,
and rejoice and give honor to him : for
the Marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His Wife hath made herself rea-
dy. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white : for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints, And he saith
unto me, Write, Blessed are they
which are called unto the marriage sup-
per of the Lamb." (Rev. 19:^6-9.)
That the wife was to be a very good
and holy woman, is very clearly indi-
cated by her being clothed with " the
righteousness of the saints." compared
to fine linen, clean and white. Her rai-
ment is more fully described in the
Psalm already epioted, being composed
of fine needle work of wrought gold,
while many virgins were to be her
attendants.
That the Bride will continue to be
the Wife of the Son of God in Eternity
as well as time, is most clearly revealed
in the twenty-first chapter of the Rev-
elations, where St. John beheld the
New Earth, and the angel said unto
him, " Come hither, I will shew thee
the Bride, the Lamb's Wife ;" and he
was carried in the spirit to a great and
high mountain, and saw a great city
called the holy Jerusalem, descending
from the heavens upon the New Earth.
This city contained the throne of God
and the Lamb, and was inhabited by a
great nation of kings who were to
" reign for ever and ever" being Gods,
as is evident from the name of God
being written on each of their fore-
heads. The inscription upon their
foreheads was not intended as a mere
sham or mockery, but was in reality
the name given to each, that all the
inhabitants of eternity, when they saw
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
171
GOD conspicuously inscribed upon all
their foreheads, might know most as-
suredly that each one was a God, as the
written title or name expressly declar-
ed. The grandeur and glory of this
city are still further described ; the ci-
ty and the streets thereof were of pure
gold, clear as glass, while the walls
and the gates were of the most pre-
cious stones ; and the glory of God en-
lightened the city, so that they had no
need of the light of the sun or moon.
This light was so great that all the na-
tions that were saved that dwelt upon
all the face of the New Earth, walked
in the light of it. There was no night
there, but the whole Earth was clothed
in one eternal day. It was in the
midst of this city that the King
of kings and Lord of lords sat
upon His throne, while upon His
"right hand did stand the Queen,"- ar-
rayed in the most costly apparel. In
order that John might see the glory of
God, the glory of His kingdom, and the
glory of His Bride, it was necesary to
show him, the Palace, the place of
the Throne, and the city in which the
Bride resided. It is expressly said,
concerning this Queen, that her name
should be remembered in all genera-
tions, and that the people should praise
her for ever and ever, (Psalm 45 : 17.)
As John saw in vision the Bride, the
Lamb's Wire more than a thousand
years after her marriage — after she and
all the rest of the inhabitants of the
earth had been raised from the dead
and become immortal — it is quite cer-
tain that she was in reality a Wife af-
ter the resurrection as well as before,
and that she will be the Lamb's Wife
forever and ever ; and in that capacity
she will, as the Psalmist has said, be
respected and praised by all the jteo-
ple for ever and ever.
That the marriage will be celebra-
ted at the second coming of the Mes-
siah, is also clearly expressed in the
parable of the ten Virgins : for Jesus
said, " Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten Virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth
to meet the Bridegroom. And five of
them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their
lamps, and took no oil with them : but
the wise took oil in their vessels with
their lamps. While the Bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made,
Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go
ye out to meet him. Then all those
Virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise,
Give us of your oil ; for our lamps are
gone out. But the wise answered,
saying, Not so ; lest there be not
enough for us and you : but go ye
rather to them that sell, and buy for
yourselves. And while they went to
buy, the Bridegroom came ; and they
that were ready went in with Him to
the marriage : and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins,
saving, Lord, Lord, open to us. But
He answered and said, Verily I say
unto you, I know you not. Watch
therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of
Man cometh." (Mathew 25 : 1-13.)
This parable, like that of the marriage
of the King's son which we have al-
ready quoted, plainly shows that there
will be a gathering out from among
the nations — a going forth to meet
the Bridegroom; but among those
who gather, there will be some with-
out a weddiug garment — without oil
in their lamps. But the five wise vir-
gins who are ready, will go in with
the Bridegroom to the marriage, and
the door will be shut. And here let
us ask the following questions : Are
these five wise virgins, to be married
unto the Bridegroom, or are they only
the invited guests ? And if they are
guests who constitutes the Bride ? In
the parable of the marriage of the
King's son, it is said, " And the wed-
ding was furnished with guests ; " the
guests being those who received the
invitation of the servants and gath-
ered together. If the five wise virgins
constitute the guests, then the Bride
must be some wise holy virgin, chosen
to be the royal consort or Queen. On
the other hand, if the five wise virgins
represent all the saints, both male and
female, and if they all constitute the
Bride, then where will the guests come
from, or who will they be .' Again, if
172
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
the five virgins are actually virgins or
females who are to be married to the
Bridegroom, then all the rest of the
saints would constitute the guests.
Are not these five wise virgins the
" honorable Wives" which the Psalm-
ist represents the Son of God as hav-
ing taken from among king's daughters?
From the passage in the forty-fifth
Psalm, it will be seen that the great
Messiah who was the founder of the
Christian religion, was a Polygaraist,
as well as the Patriarch Jacob and the
prophet David from whom He descen-
ded according to the flesh. Paul says
concerning Jesus, " Verily he took not
on him the nature of angels ; but he took
on him the seed of Abraham." (Heb.
2 : 16.) Abraham the Polygamist,
being a friend of God, the Messiah
chose to take upon himself his seed ;
and by marrying many honorable
wives himself, show to all future gen-
erations that he approbated the plu-
rality of Wives under the Christian
dispensation, as well as under the dis-
pensations in which His Polygamist
ancestors livred.
We have now clearly shown that
God the Father had a plurality of
wives, one or more being in eternity,
by whom He begat our spirits as well
as the spirit of Jesus His First Born,
and another being upon the earth by
whom He begat the tabernacle of Je-
sus, as His Only Begotten in this
world. We have also proved most
clearly that the Son followed the ex-
ample of his Father, and became the
great Bridegroom to whom kings'
daughters and many honorable Wives
were to be married. We have also
proved that both God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ inherit their
wives in eternity as well as in time ;
and that God the Father has already
begotten many thousand millions of
sons and daughters and sent them into
this world to take tabernacles; and
that God the Son has the promise
that " of the increase of his government
there shall be no end ;" it being express-
ly declared that the children of one of
His Qus is should be made Princes in
all the earth. (See Psalm 45: 16.)
Jesus says there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall
see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God, and you yourselves thrust out."
(Luke 13 : 28.) There are many in
this generation so pious that they
would consider themselves greatly dis-
graced to be obliged to associate with
a man having a plurality of wives ;
would it not be well for such to desire
a place separate from the kingdom of
God, that they may not be contamina-
ted with the society of these old Po-
lygamists ? And then it would be so
shocking to the modesty of the very
pious ladies of Christendom to see
Abraham and his wives, Jacob and
his wives, Jesus and his honorable
wives, all eating occasionally at the
same table, and visiting one another,
and conversing about their numerous
children and their kingdoms. Oh, ye
delicate ladies of Christendom, how
can you endure such a scene as this ?
Oh, what will you do, when you behold
on the very gates of the holy Jerusa-
lem the names of the Twelve sons of the
four wives of the Polygamist Jacob ?
If you do not want your morals cor-
rupted, and your delicate ears shocked,
and your pious modesty put to the
blush by the society of polygamists
and their wives, do not venture near
the holy Jerusalem, nor come near the
New Earth; for Polygamists will be
honored there, and will be among the
chief rulers in that Kingdom.
Peter says, Likewise ye wives be in
subjection to your own husbands,
* *. * * even as Sarah obeyed
Abraham, calling him Lord : whose
daughters ye are, as long as ye
do well." (1 Peter 3: 1, 6.) The
females in the first age of Christianity
considered it a great honor to become
the daughters of Abraham, but now
thev have become so righteous that
they think it a disgrace to be found
in the society of a Polygamist ; and
no doubt they would think their char-
acters ruined for ever, if any one should
be so immodest as to call them the
daughters of the Polygamist Abraham.
But we will tell them how to avoid this
deep disgrace ; they can cease to do
well ; for Peter says that it is only on
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
173
this condition that they become the
daughters of Abraham. It will be ne-
cessary for you to reject Christianity and
not obey the gospel ; for in so doing you
might very much endanger your rep-
utation by becoming the daughters of
that noted Polygamist. To become
the daughters of a Polygamist by
voluntarily embracing Christianity
would be at once sanctioning father
Abraham's deeds. Only think how
awfully shocking it would be, to have
your neighbors point the finger of scorn
at you, and say, " There goes a daugh-
ter of Abraham — she has been adopt-
ed into the family of that old Polyga-
mist— she must be a very immodest
woman to want to get into his family,"
among his wives and concubines — who
would have ever thought, that she
would have embraced the faith of
Abraham, and thus consent to be adopt-
ed as one of his daughters, when she
very well knew his character ! 0 what
a disgrace ! I wonder if she will not
want to go and sit down with her
adopted father and with all his wives
in the kingdom of God. I dare say
she will ; for there is no telling how far
Christianity will lead them, when they
get so far gone as to be adopted into
Abraham's family. The doctrine that
she has embraced tells her that many
shall come from the east, and from the
Avest, and from the north, and from the
south, and shall sit down with Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of God. O how shameful ! I wonder
why the law dont put a stop to Chris-
tianity when it produces such an im-
moral influence as to cause so many
not only to be adopted into these dis-
graceful families, but to pretend that
such characters are going to be in
the kingdom of God, and that all their
adopted children will go there too.
She not only disgraces herself by com-
ing into such a family, but according
to her doctrine she will have to associ-
ate with beggars, for her book says,
that the angels laid hold of a poor
beggar named Lazarus and carried him
off to Abraham's bosom. Oh what a
family ! Polygamists and beggars all
together ! and that poor silly woman is
one of his daughters, and expects when
she dies to be carried to his bosom al-
so. I wonder if there will not be some
great gulf or some other barrier to
keep such disgraceful characters from
intruding upon the society and cor-
rupting the morals of the good pious
people who die in the nineteenth cen-
tury ! I wonder if the angels will have
the impudence to drag us away as soon
as we die to the bosom of such a no-
ted Polygamist as Abraham !" If you
do not want to suffer such deep dis-
grace, you must keep out of Abraham's
family by neglecting the Gospel; and
when you die, the angels will not trou-
ble you with his society, but there will
be a great gulf intervening between you
and his family over wThich there will be
no passage.
Inasmuch as the saints in Utah con-
sider it moral, virtuous, and scriptural,
to practice the plurality system, they
.should seek by every means to Eradi-
cate, not only from their own minds,
but from the minds of their children,
every erroneous improper prejudice
which they have formerly imbibed, by
their associations with the nations of
modern Christendom. Parents who
have daughters should seek to instil
into their minds, that it is just as hon-
orable for them to be united in marri-
age to a good man who is already a
husband, as to one that is single : they
should be taught to reject the society
and proposals for marriage of all wick-
ed men, whether single or not. A
father should be impartial to all his chil-
dren, and cultivate the same love for
them all ; while each wife should instil
into the minds of her own children the
necessity of loving the children of each
of the others, as brothers and sisters.
Each wife should, not only care for the
welfare of her husband and her own
children, but should also seek the hap-
piness of each of his other wives and
children. And likewise, the children
of each wife should not only respect,
honor, and love their own mother, but
also the mothers of all their brothers
and sisters. By observing these pre-
cepts, peace and tranquility will reign
throughout every department of the
family, and the spirit of God will flow
freely from heart to heart.
174
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
Nothing is so much to be desired in
families as peace, love, and union :
they are essential to happiness here
and hereafter. And, in order to pro-
mote these desirable objects, we would
recommend the observance of the fol-
lowing rules.
Rule 1st. — Let that man who in-
tends to become a husband, seek first
the kingdom of God and its righteous-
ness, and Irani to govern himself, ac-
cording to the law of God : for he
that cannot govern himself cannot
govern others : let him dedicate his
property, his talents, his time, and even
his life to the service of God, holding
all things at His disposal, to do with
the same, according as He shall direct
through the counsel that He has or-
dained.
Rule 2nd. — Let him next seek for
wisdom to direct him in the choice of
his wives. Let him seek for those
whose qualifications will render him
and themselves happy. Let him look
not wholly at the beauty of the coun-
tenance, or the splendor of the appa-
rel, or the great fortune, or the artful
smiles, or the affected modesty of fe-
males ; for all these, without the gen-
uine virtues, are like the dew-drops
which glitter for a moment in the sun,
and dazzle the eye, but soon vanish
away. But let him look for kind and
amiable dispositions ; for unaffected
modesty; for industrious habits; for
sterling virtue; for honesty, integrity,
and truthfulness; for cleanliness in per-
sons, in apparel, in cooking, and in ev-
ery kind of domestic labor ; for cheer-
fulness, patience, and stability of char-
acter ; and above all, for genuine reli-
gion to control and govern their every
thought and deed. When he has
found those possessing these qualifica-
tions let him seek to obtain them law-
fully through the counsel of him who
holds the keys of the everlasting priest-
hood, that they may be married to
him by the authority of Heaven, and
thus be secured to him for time and for
all eternity.
Rule 3rd — When a man has ob-
tained his wives, let him not sup-
pose that they are already perfect in
all things ; for this caunct be expect-
ed in those who are young and inex-
perienced in the cares and vicissitudes
of a married life. Th#ey, as weaker
vessels, are given to him as the stron-
ger, to nourish, cherish, and protect ;
to be their head, their patriarch, and
their saviour; to teach, instruct, coun-
sel, and perfect them in all things re-
lating to family government, and the
welfare and happiness of themselves
and their children. Therefore, let him
realize the weighty responsibility now
placed upon him, as the head of a
family ; and also let him study dili-
gently the disposition of his wives, that
he may know how to instruct them in
wisdom for their good.
Rule 4th. — Betray not the confi-
dence of your wives. There ane many
ideas in an affectionate confiding wife
which she would wish to communicate
to her husband, and yet she would be
very unwilling to have them communi-
cated to others. Keep each of your
wives' secrets from all the others, and
from anyone else, unless in cases where
good will result by doing otherwise.
Rule 5th. — Speak not of the faults
of your wives to others ; for in so doing,
you speak against yourself. If you
speak to one of your wives of the im-
perfections of the others who may be
absent, you not only injure them in
her estimation, but she will expect that
vou will speak against her under like
circumstances : this is calculated to
weaken their confidence in you, and
sow division in the family. Tell each
one of her faults in private in a spirit
of kindness and love, and she will most
probably respect you for it, and en-
deavor to do better for the future ; and
thus the others will not, because of
your reproof, take occasion to speak re-
proachfully of her. There may be cir-
cumstances, when reproof, given in the
presence of the others, will produce a
salutary influence upon all. Wisdom
is profitable to direct, and should be
sought for earnestly by those who
have the responsibility of families.
Rule 6th. — Avoid anger and a fret-
ful peevish disposition in your family.
A hasty spirit, accompanied with harsh
words, will most generally beget its
own likeness, or, at least, it will, eventu-
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
m
ally, sour the feelings of your wives and
children, and greatly weaken their af-
fections for you. You should remem-
ber that harsh expressions against one
of your wives, used in the hearing of
the others, will more deeply wound
her feelings, than if she alone heard
them. Reproofs that are timely and
otherwise good, may lose their good
effect by being administered in a wrong
spirit, indeed, they will most probably
increase the evils which they were in-
tended to remedy. Do not" find fault
with every trifling error that you may
see ; for this will discourage your family,
and they will begin to think that it is
impossible to please you; and, after a
while, becom.- indifferent as to whether
they please you or not. How unhappy
and extremely wretched is that family
where nothing pleases — where scolding
has become almost as natural as breath-
ing!
Rule 1th. — Use impartiality in your
family as far as circumstances will al-
low; and let your kindness and love
abound towards them all. Use your
own judgment, as the head of the family,
in regard to your duties in relation to
them, and be not swayed from that
Which is right, by your own feelings,
nor by the feelings of others.
Rule 8th. — Sutter not your judgment
to be biased against any one of your
wives, by the accusations of the others,
unless you have good grounds to be-
lieve that those accusations are just.
Decide not hastily upon partial evi-
dence, but weigh well all things, that
your mind may not become unjustly
prejudiced. When one of your wives
complains of the imperfections of the
others, and endeavors to set your mind
against them, teach her that all have
imperfections, and of the necessity of
bearing one with another in patience,
and of praying one for another.
Rule 9th. — Call your wives and
children together frequently, and in-
struct them in their duties towards
God, towards yourself, and towards one
another. Pray with them and for them
often ; and teach them to pray much,
that the Holy Spirit may dwell in their
midst, without which it is impossible
to maintain that union, love, and one-
ness which are so necessary io happiness
and salvation.
Rule 10th. — Remember, that not-
withstanding written rules will be of
service in teaching you your duties, as
the head of a family, yet without the
Holy Ghost to teach ami instruct you,
it is impossible for you to govern a
family in righteousness ; therefore, seek
after the Holy Ghost and He shall
teach you all things, and sanctify you
and your family, and make you one,
that you may he perfected in Him and
He in you, and eventually he exalted
on high to dwell with God, where your
joy will be full forever.
Rule llth. — Let no woman unite
herself in marriage with any man, un-
less she has fully resolved to submit
herself wholly to his counsel, and to let
him govern as the head. It is far bet-
ter for her not to be united with him
in the sacred bonds of eternal union,
than to rebel against the divine order
of family government, instituted for a
higher salvation; for if she altogether
turn therefrom, she will receive a greater
condemnation.
Rule 12^.— Never seek to prejudice
the mind of your husband against any
of his other wives, for the purpose of
exalting yourself in his estimation, lest
the evil which you unjustly try to bring
upon them, fall with double weight
upon your own head. Strive to rise
in favor and influence with your hus-
band by your own merits, and not by
magnifying the faults of others.
Rule 13th.— Seek to be a peace-
maker in the family with whom you
are associated. If you see the least
appearance of division arising, use your
utmost efforts to restore union and
soothe the feelings of all. Soft and
gentle words, spoken in season, will
allay contention and strife; while a
hasty spirit and harsh language add
fuel to the fire already kindled which
will rage with increasing violence.
Rule 14th. — Speak not evil of your
husband unto any of the rest of" the
family for the purpose of prejudicing
their minds against him; for if he be
informed thereof, it will injure you in
his estimation. Neither speak evil of
any members of the family; for this
17G
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
will destroy their confidence in you.
Avoid all hypocracy ; for if you pre-
tend to love your husband and to honor
and respect his wives, when present,
hut speak disrespectful of them when
absent, you will be looked upon as a
hypocrite, as a tattler, and as a mis-
chief-making woman, and be shunned
as being more dangerous than an open
enemy. And what is still more de--
testable, is to tattle out of the family,
and endeavor to create enemies against
those with whom you are connected.
Such persons should not only be con-
sidered hypocrites, but traitors, and
their conduct should be despised by
every lover of righteousness. Remem-
ber also, that there are more ways than
one to tattle ; it is not always the case
that those persons who are the boldest
in their accusations that are the most
dangerous slanderers; but such as
hypocritically pretend that they do not
wish to injure their friends, and at the
same 'time, very piously insinuate in
dark indirect sayings, something that
is calculated to leave a very unfavorable
prejudice against them. Shun such a
spirit as you would the very gates of hell.
Rule 15th. — If you see any of your
husband's wives sick or in trouble, use
every effort to relieve them, and to ad-
minister kindness and consolations, re-
membering that you, yourself, under
the same circumstances, would be
thankful for their assistance. Endeavor
to share each others burdens, according
to the health, ability, and strength
which God has given you. Do not be
afraid that you will do more than your
share of the domestic labor, or that
you will be more kind to them than
they are to you.
. Rule 16 th.- — Let each mother correct
her own children, and see that they do
not dispute and quarrel with each other,
nor with any others ; let her not cor-
rect the children of the others without
liberty so to do, lest it give offence.
The husband should see that each
mother maintains a wise and proper
discipline over her children, especially
ih their younger years : and it is his
duty to see that all of his children are
obedient to himself and to their re-
spective mothers. And it is also his
duty to see that the children of one
wife are not allowed to quarrel and
abuse those of the others, neither to be
disrespectful or impudent to any branch
of his family.
Rule 17 th. — It is the duty of parents
to instruct their children, according to
their capacities in every principle of
the gospel, as revealed in the Book of
Mormon and in the revelations which
God has given, that they may grow up
in righteousness, and in the fear of the
Lord, and have faith in Him. Suffer
no wickedness to have place among
them, but teach them the right way,
and see that they walk therein. And
let the husband, and his wives, and all
of his children that have come to the
years of understanding, often bow be-
fore the Lord around the family altar,
and pray vocally and unitedly for what-
ever blessings they stand in need of,
remembering that where there are union
and peace, there will also be faith, and
hope, and the love of God, and every
good work, and a multiplicity of bless-
ings, imparting health and comfort to
the body, and joy and life to the soul.
(Concluded in our next number.)
-CONTENTS.
Second Epistle of Orson Pratt. . . . .' 161
Celestial Marriage 169
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited atcd Published by Obson Pbatt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. I.
DECEMBER, 1853.
No. 12.
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
Anions the distinguished Christian
Reformers and celebrated Divines of
the sixteenth century, may be mention-
ed the names of Luther, Melancthon,
Bucer, and Melanther. These won-
derful men distinguished themselves in
their persevering, bold, and fearless
opposition to the corrupt powers of
Catholicism. Although not called and
ordained of God with the authority of
Apostles and Prophets to restore the
Church of God to the earth, yet they
were Reformers ; and with a noble en-
ergy and perseverance, exposed, in a
degree, the superstitions and wicked-
ness of the Romish Church ; they protes-
ted against their blasphemous doctrines
and pretentions ; they revolted from
the jurisdiction and tyrannical power of
the Romish Priesthood ; they weaken-
ed its corrupting influence among the
nations : they laid the foundation of
more liberal principles ; opened the
way for the nations to burst the bonds
of religious despotism ; and planted
the seeds of civil and religious liberty,
which have continued to grow and
spread until millions now bask under
the extended branches. It was for these
great and noble purposes that God
moved upon the hearts of these men to
boldly protest against a power that had
become tyrannical and formidable to an
alarming degree : it was to restore, in
some small degree, that freedom and in-
dependence of mind, so necessary to the
improvement and happiness of man ;
it was to open a door for advancement
in the sciences and arts without be-
ing trammelled with the bigoted op-
position of priestcraft. Though they
were raised up to accomplish these
great and desirable purposes, yet they
could not restore the Church of God
to the earth ; for this was not their
calling. They were called to lay the
foundation of a reformation which
should eventually terminate in the es-
tablishment of Governments favorable
to liberty of conscience, that when the
Church should be restored, men might
be free to embrace its principles. They
and their successors who have followed
in their steps, were called as fore-run-
ners to prepare the way before the
Church when it should once more have
place on the earth.
These celebrated Reformers advoca-
ted Christianity so far as they under-
stood its principles. Many Romish su-
perstitions which had been palmed up-
on the world for Christianity, were a-
bolished : many Christian institutions
which had been abolished by the Rom-
ish Priesthood, were, in a measure, re-
stored, at last in form ; among which
may be mentioned Polygamy. The
Romanists had not only forbidden mar-
riage to her priests, but had abolished
the Divine institution of Polygamy
178
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
which was practiced in early ages when
pure Christianity was on the earth.
While Polygamy flourished iu the
Christian Church, the Roman nation
were in favor of Monogamy or the one
wife system, and established laws, pro-
hibiting a plurality of wives among
their citizens. The Christian Church
in that nation were obliged to relin-
quish the Divine institution of Polyg-
amy, and submit to the Roman laws
under heavy penalties. At length,
through priestcraft and tradition the
Church was made to believe that the
Monogamy, established by the Roman
civil law, was actually a part of Chris-
tianity. This delusion, concocted at
the head quarters of the so-called
Christian Church, gradually extended
itself to the surrounding nations, and
other branches of the Christian Church
adopted it, and relinquished the Polyg-
amic system. The one wife system
did not originate in the Christian
Church, but was adopted from the
practice of the Roman nation by the
Romish Priesthood, and by them palm-
ed upon the nations as originating in
Christianity. " Julius Caesar attempt-
ed to have a law passed in favor of
Polygamy, but could not effect it."
The Romans were too much opposed
to the practices of Jews and Christians
to permit this Divine institution to
have free tolerance. And the Romish
Church followed in the footsteps of
their nation and were unwilling to have
this Christian and Jewish practice con-
tinued within their ecclesiastical code.
Many centuries passed away, during
which the common people were not
permitted to read the manuscript copies
of the Bible for themselves, and they
were traditioned by their priests to be-
lieve that Monogamy was a Christian
institution, and that Polygamy was
forbidden. This delusive tradition
was riveted more and more firmly upon
the minds of the people by the practi-
ces and teaching of each succeeding
generation of Christendom, until even
whole nations in the western world
were influenced to make laws prohibit-
in o- Polygamy, as something which
tradition had taught them was un-
christian.
While the world was thus over-
whelmed in darkness, following the
false traditions and superstitions of the
Papists, the great Reformers, Martin
Luther, Philip Melancthon, Martin Bu-
cer, Dennis Melanther, and numerous
other German Divines, introduced a
wonderful reformation in many things:
among which they re-established the
right of their priests to marry; and
again permitted the Divine institution
of Polygamy to exist in the Church.
Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, one of
the principal Lords and Princes of
Germany, wrote to the great Reformer,
Martin Luther, and to the principal
heads of the reformation, anxiously
imploring them to grant unto him the
privilege of marrying a second wife,
while the first wife, his Princess, was
yet living. Many arguments were
urged by the Landgrave, showing that
the practice was in accordance with
the Bible, and not prohibited under
the Christian dispensation. Upon the
reception of this information, Luther,
who had from the beginning of the
reformation favored Polygamy, met in
council with the principal Christian
Divines to consult upon the propriety
of granting the request of Lord Philip;
after considering upon the subject, they
addressed to him a lengthy letter, grant-
ing him his request; at the same time
earnestly exhorting him to live a virtu-
ous and upright life. The letter com-
mences as follows :
uTo the most serene Prince and Lord
Philip Land g rave of Hesse, Count
of Catzenlembogen, of Diets, of Zie-
genhain, and Nidda, our gracious
Lord, we wish above all things the
Grace of God through Christ :
"I. We have been informed by
Bucer, and in the instruction which
your Highness gave him, have read,
the trouble of mind and the uneasiness
of conscience your Highness is under
at this present ; and although it seemed
to us very difficult so speedily to an-
swer the doubts proposed ; nevertheless
we should not permit the said Bucer,
who was urgent for his return to your
Highness to go away without an an-
swer in writing."
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
179
Then follows a lengthy exhortation
"to the Prince to live a life of virtue as
;a remedy to promote his health ; for
say they,
" If your Highness, after marrying a
second wife, were not to forsake those
licentious disorders, the remedy pro-
posed would be to no purpose.''
In the twenty-first paragraph, they
counsel the Landgrave to keep his
second marriage a secret from the pub-
lic at large, and that only a few trusty
persons should be present at the cele-
bration. This counsel is as follows:
" XXI. But after all, if your High-
ness is fully resolved to marry a second
wife, we judge it ought to be done
secretly, as we have said with respect
to the dispensation demanded on the
same account, that is, that none but
the person you shall wed, and a few
trusty persons, know of the matter, and
they, too, obliged to secresy under the
seal of confession. Hence no contra-
diction nor scandal of moment need be
apprehended ; for it is no extraordinary
thing for Princes to keep concubines ;
and though the vulgar should be scan-
dalized thereat, the more intelligent
would doubt of the truth, and prudent
persons would approve of this moderate
kind of life, preferable to adultery, and
other brutal actions. There is no need
of being much concerned for what men
will say, provided all goes right with
conscience. So far do we approve it,
and in those circumstances only by us
specified ; for the Gospel hath neither
recalled nor forbid what was permitted
in the law of Moses with respect to
marriage. Jesus Christ has not chang-
ed the external economy, but added
justice only, and life-everlasting for re-
ward. He teaches the true way of
obeying God, and endeavors to repair
the corruption of nature.
" Your Highness hath therefore, in
this writing, not only the approbation
of us all, in case of necessity, con-
cerning what you desire, but also the
reflections we have made thereupon ;
we beseech you to weigh them, as be-
coming a virtuous, wise, and Christian
Prince. We also beg of God to direct
all for his glory and your Highness's
salvation."
The letter closes with these words :
" May God preserve your Highness.
We are most ready to serve your High-
ness. Given at Wittemberg the Wed-
nesday after the feast of Saint Nicholas,
1539.
" Your Highness's most humble, and
most obedient subjects and servants, ■
Martin Luther,
Philip Melancthon,
Martin Buoer,
Antony Corvin,
Adam,
John Levingue,
Justus Wintferte,
Dennis Melanther."
This letter is in Melancthon's own
hand-writing, as the following testimo-
ny clearly shows :
" I George Nuspicher, Notary Impe-
rial, bear testimony by this present act,
written and signed with my own hand,
that I have transcribed this present
copy from the true original which is in
Melancthon's own hand-writing, and
hath been faithfully preserved to this
present time, at the request of the most
serene Prince of Hesse ; and have ex-
amined with the greatest exactness
every line and every word, and collated
them with the same original ; and have
found them conformable thereunto, not
only in the things themselves but also
in the signs manuel, and have deliver-
ed the present copy in five leaves of
good paper, whereof I bear witness.
George Nuspicher,
Notary."
Having given extracts from the let-
ter written by this Council of Protest-
ant Christian Divines, permitting and
approbating Polygamy in their Church,
we will next give the Marriage Contract
into which the Landgrave and his sec-
ond spouse entered, and also the oath
of Marriage administered to them by
the Reverend Dennis Melanther, preach-
er to his Highness.
"The Marriage Contract of Philip,
Landgrave of Hesse, with Margaret
de Baal.
uIn the name of God, Amen.
" Be it known to all those, as well in
general as in particular, who shall see,
mo
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
hear, or read this public instrument,
that in the year 1540, on Wednesday,
the fourth day of the month of March,
at two o'clock or thereabouts in the
afternoon, the thirteenth year of the
Indiction, and the twenty-first of the
reign of the most puissant and most
victorious Emperor Charles VI., our
most gracious Lord ; the most serene
Prince and Lord, Philip, Landgrave of
Hesse, Count of Catznelenbogen, of
Dietz, of Ziegenbain, and Nidda, with
some of his Highness's Counsellors, on
one side, and the good and virtuous
Lady Margaret cle Saal with some of
her relatives, on the other side, have
appeared before me, Notary and wit-
ness underwritten, in the city of Rot en-
burg, in the castle of the same city,
with the design and will publicly to
unite themselves by marriage ; and ac-
cordingly my most gracious Lord and
Prince Philip the Landgrave hath or-
dered this to be proposed by the Rev-
erend Denis Melander, preacher to his
Highness, much to the sense as follows :
' Whereas the eye of God searches all
things, and but little escapes the know-
ledge of men, his Highness declares
that his will is to wed the said Lady
Margaret de Saal, although the Prin-
cess his wife be still living, and that
this action may not be imputed to in-
constancy or curiosity : to avoid scan-
dal and maintain the honor of the said
Lady, and the reputation of her kin-
dred, his Highness makes oath here
before God, and upon his soul and
conscience, that he takes her to wife
through no levity, nor curiosity, nor
from any contempt of law, or superiors ;
but that he is obliged to it by such
important, such inevitable necessities of
body and conscience, that it is impossi-
ble for him to save either body or soul,
without adding another wife to his first.
All which his Highness hath laid be-
fore many learned, devout, prudent,
and Christian preachers, and consulted
them upon it. And these great men,
after examining the motives represented
to them, have advised his Highness to
put his soul and conscience at ease by
this double marriage. And the same
cause and the same necessity have
obliged the most serene Princess Chris-
tina, Duchess of Saxony, his Highness's
first lawful wife, out of her great pru-
dence and sincere devotion for which
she is so much to be commended, freely
to consent and admit of a partner, to
the end, that the soul and body of her
most dear spouse may run no further
risk, and the glory of God may be in-
creased, as the deed written with the
Princess's own hand sufficiently testi-
fies. And lest occasion of scandal be
taken from its not being the custom
to have two wives, although this be
Christian and lawful in the present
case, his Highness will not solemnize
these nuptials in the ordinary way,
that is, publicly before many people,
and with the wonted ceremonies, with
the said Margaret de Saal ; but both
the one and the other will join them-
selves in wedlock, privately and without
noise, in presence only of the witnesses
underwritten.' After Melander had
finished his discourse, the said Philip
and the said Margaret accepted of each
other for husband and wife, and prom-
ised mutual fidelity in the name of God.
The said Prince hath required of me,
Notary underwritten, to draw him one
or more collated copies of this contract,
and hath also promised on the word
and faith of a Prince, to me a public
person, to observe it inviolably, always
and without alteration, in presence of
the Rev. and most learned masters,.
Philip Melancthon, Martin Bucer, Denis
Melander; and likewise in the presence
of the illustrious and valiant Eberhard
de Than, counsellor of his electoral
Highness of Saxony, Herman de Mais-
berg, Herman de Hundelshausen, the
Lord John Fegg of the Chancery, Ro-
dulph Schenek; and also in the pres-
ence of the most honorable and most
virtuous Lady Anne, of the family of
Miltiz, widow of the late John de Saal,
and mother of the Spouse, all in quality
of requisite witnesses for the validity of
the present act.
" And I, Balthasar Rand, of Fuld,
notary public imperial, who was pres-
ent at the discourse, instruction, mar-
riage, espousals, and union aforesaid,
with the said witnesses, and have heard
and seen all that passed, have written
and subscribed the present contract,
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURA.
181
being requested so to do; and set to it
the usual seal for a testimonial of the
truth thereof.
BALTHASAR RAND."
These extracts have been taken from
the 1st volume of a work entitled, " His-
tory of the Variations of the Protest-
ant, Churches," by James Benign Bos-
suet. They have also been extensively
published in other works.
These celebrated Protestant Divines
and great Christian Reformers of the
sixteenth century, have thus most clear-
ly decided that " the Gospel hath nei-
ther recalled nor forbid what was per-
mitted in the law of Moses with respect
to MarriageP And in accordance with
these sentiments, they most freely de-
clare to the Landgrave that, " Your
Highness hath therefore, in this wri-
ting" " the approbation of us all con-
cerning what you desire.'1'1 And " The
Reverend Denis Melander, preacher to
his Highness,'1'' administered the oath
of marriage and solemnized the nup-
tial ceremony in the name of God, de-
claring that " to have two wives''' was both
" Christian and lawful ;" while, like
Sarah, Leah, and Rachel — Abram and
Jacob's wives, " the most serene Princess
Christina, Duchess of Saxony, h is High-
ness's first lawful wife,'''' freely consented
and admitted "of a partner" "as the
deed written with the Princess's own
hand sufficiently testifies"
These Reverend preachers did not
come to a hasty conclusion that Polyg-
amy was approbated by the Gospel ; for
Luther, " in a sermon which he deliver-
ed at Wittemberg, for the reformation of
Marriage," in speaking of wives, says :
" If they are stubborn, it is fitting
their husbands should tell them, if you
will not, another will ; if the mistress
refuse to come, let the maid be called."
This "sermon was pronounced in
1522," some eighteen years before they
gave a written permission to the Land-
grave to become a Christian Polyga-
mist ; hence, it will be perceived that
their conclusions in regard to the Di-
vine approbation of Polygamy, were
formed after many years reflection upon
the subject.
Having proved that the heads of the
Protestant Reformation in Germany
approbated Polygamy in their Church,
we will next show that at the same pe-
riod the supreme head and founder of
the Church of England — Henry VIII,
was a Polygamist. This King, having
been married for upwards of twenty
years to Catharine of Arragon, became
deeply in love with Anne Boleyn ; and
in the year 1532, he was privately mar-
ried to her, while Catharine still re-
mained his lawful wife. This second
marriage, like that of the German
Prince, was celebrated in secret through,
fear of public scandal ; for it should be
remembered, that through the delusive
influence of the Romish church, the
most of the people had been tradition-
ed to believe that Polygamy was un-
christian ; hence, it became, in their
estimation, scandalous; and those who
believed to the contrary, and wished to
practice this Divine institution, were
under the painful necessity of keeping
their marriage contracts with their sec-
ond wives partially secret, onlv permit-
ting a few trusty friends to witness the
same.
The king, after having been privately
married to Anne Boleyn, his second
wife, through fear of being scandalized
as a Polygamist, sought for a divorce
from his first wife, Catharine ; but the
head of the Romish Church would not
sanction his proceedings, whereupon,
the King forthwith proclaimed himself
the supreme head of the church, and
invented new Articles of Religion, and
enforced the same upon the people
under the penalty of martyrdom. Some,
refusing to acknowledge him as head
of the church, were shamefully tortured
and put to death. Thus was laid the
foundation of the great and popular
church of England ; its first celebrated
head and founder, being a polygamist.
It is evident that the more intelligent
and learned portion of England con-
sidered Polygamy perfectly consistant
with Christianity, or they never would
have confirmed by Parliamentary acts,
the title of " Supreme Head of the
Church " upon their Polygamist King.
It is in vain for the church of England
to say that Polygamy is not sanctioned
by the gospel, so long as they acknow-
182
CHRISTIAN POLYGAMY IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
ledge that the very founder and head
of their church was a Polygamic,
Though Polygamy is a Divine insti-
tution, yet both the German and Eng-
lish Reformers were not justified, in the
absence of an inspired Priesthood, in
officiating in the nuptial ceremonies.
Not having the Priesthood, they had
no authority to officiate in a divine
ordinance. Though Polygamy was
practiced in unrighteousness, under the
sanction and approbation of the great
Christian Divines of the sixteenth cen-
tury, yet it proves most conclusively,
that those Divines did sincerely believe
it to be just as legal and lawful for a
Christian to have two wives as to have
one only ; and they, no eloubt acted in
all good conscience in accordance with
their firm conviction.
Thus Polygamy, after having been
abolished for many centuries from the
churches of Christendom, was again re-
instituted therein by the most cele-
brated Reformers of the sixteenth cen-
tury. But they dare not, through fear
of scandal, publicly proclaim this divine
institution. It remained for the Re-
nowned Prophet of the nineteenth cen-
tury, Joseph Smith, to restore this di-
vine institution in all its original purity
to the earth, by the word and com-
mandment of the Most High God. R
remained for the inspired Apostles and
Elders of the restored Church of God,
to publicly announce to all nations
the re-institution of this sacred and
Christian ordinance. They do not fear
the scandal of the deluded fanatics of
an apostate church : they do not tremble
to announce in the presence of an apos-
tate priesthood, the beauty and holiness
of the Divine institution of Marriage,
whether including one or more wives :
they are not ashamed to practice and
proclaim publicly, that which the Pro-
testant Divines, though convinced of
its righteousness and purity, dare only
approbate in secret. But in saying
this, we would not boast, neither would
we speak disrespectfully of the timidity
of those good Christian Reformers ;
they were not sent to restore the Chris-
tian Church to the earth with all its
heavenly ordinances and principles ;
and not being; sent and clothed with
the power of the everlasting Priesthood!,
they could not speak as men having
authority, and consequently were timid,
and afraid of scandal, and approbated
Polygamy privately ; this care or pru-
dence was no doubt best, under the
strong power of tradition and other
circumstances with which they were
surrounded.
But " the times of the restitution of
all things which God hath spoken by
the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began " are at hand, prepara-
tory to the coming of Jesus Christ,
whom the heavens must receive until
the restitution of all things is completed,
when he will again be sent to take unto
himself his great power and reign over
all people. Among the " all things "
which the prophets have predicted
should be restored before the Messiah
comes is Polygamy. The holy prophet
Isaiah predicted, that in the day that
the cloud and fire should be restored
to the earth, as should be manifested
upon all the assemblies and dwelling-
places of Zion, every one in that city
should be called holy and should be
beautiful and glorious, and that seven
women would take hold of one man,
anxiously imploring him to let them
be called by his name to take away
their reproach, at the same time,
promising that they would be no ex-
pense to him, but would agree to eat
their own bread and wear their own
apparel, if he would only become their
husband and let them be called by his
name. Thus we see that the Messiah
never would come, unless Polygamy
were restored to the Christian Church ;
for the heavens must receive him until
all things are restored which all the
holy prophets have predicted. If any
should suppose that this prediction, so
far as Polygamy is concerned, was ful-
filled by the early protestants, we reply,
that it is true that the protestant Di-
vines restored Polygamy, but in their
day we have an account of only two^
women taking hold of one man, by
their approbation, whereas Isaiah says
expressly, that it is to be SEVEN
WOMEN who are to do this : there-
fore, though it cannot but be admitted
that the Reformers restored Polygamy,,
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
183
yet they cannot claim the honor of
having restored it in the full sense of
Isaiah's prediction. This honor was
reserved for a people who should he
called Zion, where all should eventually
be called beautiful, and glorious, and
holy. The pure and virtuous daughters
of Zion will consider it a great reproach
to remain single and have no posterity :
hence, their exceedingly great anxiety
for husbands, that their reproach may
be taken away. They will learn that
a woman cannot, through her own
carelessness or neglect, fail to fulfil the
end of her creation, without bringing
upon herself everlasting reproach, as
well as condemnation for disobeying
the Lord's great and first command-
ment to multiply. Oh, how different
will be their feelings from those now
manifested by females traditioned
under papist and protestant super-
stitions ! Surely there must be some
mighty changes and revolutions when
all things that the ancient prophets
have predicted shall be restored ! Poly-
gamy, as well as Monogamy, will then
be honored by all the heavenly hosts
above, and by all the nations of the
righteous upon the earth ; and there
will not be so much as a dog to move
his tongue against any of the insti-
tutions of the Bible.
EDITOR.
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE
(Concluded.)
Ride 18th. — Let each mother com-
mence with her children when young,
not only to teach and instruct them,
but to chasten and bring them into the
most perfect subjection ; for then is
the time that they are the most easily
conquered, and their tender minds are
the most susceptible of influences and
government. Many mothers from care-
lessness neglect their children, and only
attempt to govern them at long inter-
vals, when they most generally find
their efforts of no lasting benefit ; for
the children having been accustomed
to have their own way, do not easily
yield ; and if peradventure they do
yield, it is only for the time being,
until the mother relaxes again into
carelessness, when they return again to
their accustomed habits: and thus by
habit they become more and more con-
firmed in disobedience, waxing worse
and worse, until the mother becomes
discouraged, and relinquishes all dis-
cipline, and complains that she cannot
make her children mind. The fault is
not so much in the children, as in the
carelessness and neglect of the mother
when the children were young; it is
she that must answer, in a great de-
gree, for the evil habits and disobe-
dience of the children. She is more
directly responsible than the father ;
for it cannot be expected that the father
can always find time, apart from the
laborious duties required of him, to
correct and manage his little children
who are at home with their mothers.
It is frequently the case that the father
is called to attend to duties in public
life, and may be absent from home
much of his time, when the whole duty
of family government necessarily rests
upon the respective mothers of his
children ; if they, through carelessness,
suffer their children to grow up in dis-
obedience and ruin themselves, they
must bear the shame and disgrace
thereof. Some mothers, though not
careless, and though they feel the
greatest anxiety for the welfare of their
children, yet, through a mistaken notion
of love for them, forbear to punish them
when they need punishment, or if they
undertake to conquer them, their ten-
derness and pity are so great, that they
prevail over the judgment, and the
children are left unconquered, and be-
come more determined to resist all
future efforts of their mothers until, at
length, they conclude that their chil-
dren have a more stubborn disposition
than others, and that it is impossible
to subject them in obedience. In this
184
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
case, as in that of neglect, the fault is
the mothers. The stubbornness of the
children, for the most part, is the effect
of the mother's indulgence, arising from
her mistaken idea of love. By that
which she calls love, she ruins her
children.
Children between one and two years
of age are capable of being made to
understand many things ; then is the
time to begin with them. How often
we see children of that age manifest
much anger. Frequently by crying
through anger, they that are otherwise
healthy, injure themselves : it is far
better, in such instances, for a mother
to correct her child in a gentle manner,
though with decision and firmness,
until she conquers it, and causes it to
cease crying, than to suffer that habit
to increase. When the child by gentle
punishment has learned this one lesson
from its mother, it is much more easily
conquered and brought into subjection
in other things, until finally, by a little
perseverance on the part of the mother,
it learns to be obedient to her voice in
all things ; and obedience becomes con-
firmed into a permanent habit. Such
a child trained by a negligent or over-
indulgent mother, might have become
confirmed in habits of stubbornness and
disobedience. It is not so much in the
original constitution of children as in
their training, that causes such wide
differences in their dispositions. It
cannot be denied, that there is a dif-
ference in the constitution of children
even from their birth ; but this dif-
ference is mostly owing to the proper
or improper conduct of parents, as be-
fore stated ; therefore, even for this dif-
ference, parents are more or less re-
sponsible. If parents, through their
own evil conduct entail hereditary dis-
positions upon their children which are
calculated to ruin them, unless properly
curtailed and overcome, they should
realise, that for that evil they must
render an account. If parents have
been guilty in entailing upon their off-
spring unhappy dispositions, let them
repent, by using all diligence to save
them from the evil consequences which
will naturally result by giving way to
those dispositions. The greater the
derangement, the greater must be the
remedy, and the more skilful and
thorough should be its application, until
that which is sown in evil is overcome
and completely subdued. In this way
parents may save themselves and their
children; but otherwise there is con-
demnation. Therefore, we repeat again,
let mothers begin to discipline their
children when young.
Rule \Qth. — Do not correct children
in anger; an angry parent is not as
well prepared to judge of the amount
of punishment which should be inflicted
upon a child, as one that is more cool
and exercised with reflection, reason,
and judgment. Let your children see
that you puni&h them, not to gratify an
angry disposition, but to reform them
for their good, and it will have a salu-
tary influence ; they will not look upon
you as a tyrant, swayed to and fro by
turbulent and furious passions ; but
they will regard you as one that seeks
their welfare, and that you only chasten
them because you love them, and wish
them to do well. Be deliberate and
calm in your counsels and reproofs, but
at the same time use earnestness and
decision. Let your children know that
your words must be respected and
obeyed.
Rule 20th. — Never deceive your chil-
dren by threatnings or promises. Be
careful not to threaten them with a
punishment which you have no inten-
tion of inflicting; for this will cause
them to lose confidence in your word ;
besides, it will cause them to contract
the habit of lying : when they perceive
that their parents do not fulfil their
threatenings or promises, they will con-
sider that there is no harm in forfeiting
their word. Think not that your pre-
cepts, concerning truthfulness, will have
much weight upon the minds of your
children, when they are contradicted
by your examples. Be careful to fulfil
your word in all things in righteous-
ness, and your children will not only
learn to be truthful from your example,
but they will fear to disobey your word,
knowing that you never fail to punish
or reward according to your threatnings
and promises. Let your laws, penalties,
and rewards be founded upon the prin-
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
185
ciples of justice and mercy, and adapted
to the capacities of your children ; for
this is the way that our heavenly Father
governs His children, giving to some
a Celestial ; to others a Terrestrial ;
and to others still a Telestial law, with
penalties and promises annexed, accord-
ing to the conditions, circumstances,
and capacities of the individuals to he
governed. Seek for wisdom and pat-
tern after the heavenly order of govern-
ment.
Rule 21st. — Do not be so stern and
rigid in your family government as to
render yourself an object of fear and
dread. There are parents who only
render themselves conspicious in the
attribute of Justice, while mercy and
love are scarcely known in their fami-
lies. Justice should be tempered with
mercy, and love should be the great
moving principle, interweaving itself in
all your family administrations. When
justice alone sits upon the throne, your
children approach you with dread, or
peradventure hide themseh es from your
presence, and long for your absence
that they may be relieved from their
fear ; at the sound of your approaching
foot-steps they flee as from an enemy,
and tremble at your voice, and shrink
from the gaze of your countenance, as
though they expected some terrible
punishment to be inflicted upon them.
Be familiar with your children that
they may delight themselves in your
societv, and look upon you as a kind
and tender parent whom they delight
to obey. Obedience inspired by love,
and obedience inspired by fear, are en-
tirely different in their nature ; the
former will be permanent and enduring,
while the latter only waits to have the
object of fear removed, and it vanishes
like a dream. Govern children as
parents, and not as tyrants ; for they
will be parents in their turn, and will
be very likely to adopt that form of
government in which they have been
educated. If you have been tyrants,
they may be influenced to pattern after
your example. If you are fretful and
continually scolding, they will be very
apt to be scolds too. If you are loving,
kind, and merciful, these benign in-
fluences will be very certain to infuse j
themselves into their order of family
government ; and thus good and evil
influences frequently extend themselves
down for many generations and ages.
How great, then, are the responsibilities
of parents to their children ! And how
fearful the consequences of bad ex-
amples ! Let love,, therefore, predomi-
nate and control you, and your children
will be sure to discover it, and will
love you in return.
Rule 22nd. — Let each mother teach
her children to honor and love their
father, and to respect his teachings and
counsels. How frequently it is the
case, when fathers undertake to correct
their children, mothers will interfere in
the presence of the children : this has
a very evil tendency in many respects :
first, it destroys the oneness of feeling
which should exist between husband
and wife ; secondly, it weakens the
confidence of the children in the father,
and emboldens them to disobedience ;
thirdly, it creates strife and discord ;
and lastly, it is rebelling against the
order of family government, established
by divine wisdom. If the mother sup-
poses the father too severe, let her not
mention this in the presence of the
children, but she can express her feel-
ings to him while alone by themselves,
and thus the children will not see any
division between them. For husband
and wives to be disagreed, and to con-
tend, and quarrel, is a great evil ; and
to do these things in the presence of
their children, is a still greater evil.
Therefore, if a husband and his wives
will quarrel and destroy their own hap-
piness, let them have pity upon their
children, and not destroy them by their
pernicious examples.
Rule 23rd. — Suffer not children of
different mothers to be haughty and
abusive to each other ; for they are
own brothers and sisters the same as
the children of the patriarch Jacob;
and one has no claim above another,
only as his conduct merits it. Should
you discover contentions or differences
arising, do not justify your own children
and condemn the others in their pre-
sence ; for this will encourage them in
their quarrels: even if you consider
that your children are not so much in
186
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
the fault as the others, it is far better
to teach them of the evils of strife, than
to speak against the others. To speak
against them, not only alienates their
affections, but has a tendency to offend
their mothers, and create unpleasant
feelings between you and them. Always
speak well of each of your husband's
wives in the presence of your children ;
for children generally form their judg-
ment concerning others, by the sayings
of their parents : they are very apt to
respect those whom their parents re-
spect ; and hate those whom they hate.
If you consider that some of the mothers
are too lenient with their children and
too negligent in correcting them, do
not be offended, but strive, by the wise
and prudent management of your own,
to set a worthy example before them,
that they, by seeing your judicious and
wise course, may be led to go and do
likewise. Examples will sometimes re-
form, when precepts fail.
Rule 24th. — Be industrious in your
habits : this is important as fulfilling
the law of God: it. is also important
for those who are in low circumstances,
that they may acquire food, and raiment,
and the necessary comforts of life : it
is also important for the rich as well as
the poor, that they may be able more
abundantly to supply the wants of the
needy, and be in circumstances to help
the unfortunate and administer to the
sick and afflicted ; for in this way, it is
possible even for the rich to enter into
the kingdom of heaven. A family
whose time is occupied in the useful
and lawful avocations of life, will find
no time to go from house to house,
tattling and injuring one another and
their neighbors; neither will they be
so apt to quarrel among themselves.
Rule 25th. — When your children
are from three to five years of age, send
them to school, and keep them there
year after year until they receive a
thorough education in all the rudiments
of useful science, and in their manners,
and morals. In this manner, they will
avoid many evils, arising from indo-
lence, and form habits that will render
them beneficial to society in after life.
Let mothers educate their daughters in
all kinds of domestic labor : teach them
to wash and iron, to bake and do all
kinds of cooking, to knit and sew, to
spin and weave, and to do all other
things that will qualify them to be
good and efficient housewives. Let
fathers educate their sons in whatever
branch or branches of business, they in-
tend them respectively to follow. De-
spise that false delicacy which is ex-
hibited by the sons and daughters of
the rich, who consider it a dishonor to
labor at the common avocations of life.
Such notions of high-life, should be
frowned out of the territory, as too con-
temptible to be harbored, for one mo-
ment, by a civilized community. Some
of these bogus gentlemen and ladies
have such grand ideas, concerning
gentility, that they would let their
poor old father and mother slave
themselves to death, to support them
in their idleness, or at some useless
fanciful employment. The daughter
will sit down in the parlour at her
painting or music, arrayed in silks and
fineries, and let her mother wash and
cook until, through fatigue, she is ready
to fall into her grave : this they call
gentility, and the distinctions between
the low and the high. But such daugh-
ters are not worthy of husbands, and
should not be admitted into any re-
spectable society: they are contemptible
drones, that would be a curse to any
husband who should be so unfortunate
as to be connected with such nuisances.
Painting, music, and all the fine arts,
should be cherished, and cultivated, as
accomplishments which serve to adorn
and embellish an enlightened civilized
people, and render life agreeable and
happy ; but when these are cultivated,
to the exclusion of the more necessary
duties and qualifications, it is like
adorning swine with costly jewels and
pearls to make them appear more re-
spectable : these embellishments, only
render such characters a hundred fold
more odious and disgustful than they
would otherwise appear.
Rule 26th. — Use economy and avoid
wastefulness. How discouraging it
would be to a husband who has a large
family, depending mostly upon his labor
for a support, to see his wives and
children carelessly, thoughtlessly, and
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
187
unnecessarily, waste his Lard earnings.
Let not one wife, for fear that she shall
not obtain her share of the income,
destroy, give away, and otherwise fool-
ishly dispose of what is given to her,
thinking that her husband will furnish
her with more. Those who economize
and wisely use that which is given to
them, should be counted worthy to re-
ceive more abundantly than those who
pursue a contrary course. Each wife
should feel interested in saving and pre-
serving that with which the Lord has
entrusted her, and should rejoice, not
only in her prosperity, but in the pros-
perity of all the others: her eyes should
not be full of greediness to grasp every
thing herself, but she should feel equal-
ly interested in the welfare of the whole
family. By pursuing this course she
will be beloved : by taking a contrary
course, she will be considered selfish
and little minded.
Rule 27th. — Let husbands, wives,
sons, and daughters, continually realize
that their relationships do not end with
this short life, but will continue in eter-
nity without end. Every qualification
and disposition therefore, which will
render them happy here, should be
nourished, cherished, enlarged, and per-
fected, that their union may be indis-
soluble, and their happiness secured
both for this world and for that which
is to come.
Let these rules be observed, and all
others that are good and righteous,
and peace will be the result : husbands
will be patriarchs and saviours ; wives
will be like fruitful vines, bringing forth
precious fruits in their seasons : their
sons will be like plants of renown, and
their daughters like the polished stones
of a palace. Then the saints shall
flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon
the mountains, and become a great
people and strong, whose goings forth
shall be with strength that is everlast-
ing. Arise, O Zion ! clothe thyself with
light ! shine forth with clearness and
brilliancy ! illuminate the nations and
the dark corners of the earth, for their
light is gone out — their sun is set —
gross darkness covers them ! let thy
light be seen upon the high places of
the earth ; let it shine in glorious splen-
dour ; for then shall the wicked sec,
and be confounded, and lay their hands
upon their mouths in shame ; then
shall kings arise, and come forth to
the light, and rejoice in the 'greatness
of thy glory ! Fear not, O Zion, nor
let thine hands be slack, for great is the
Holy One in the amidst of thee ! a
cloud shall be over thee by day for a
defense, and at night thy dwellings shall
be encircled with glory ! God is thine
everlasting light, and shall be a Tower
of strength against thine enemies ; at
the sound of His voice they shall melt
away, and terrors shall seize upon
them. In that day thou shalt be
beautiful and glorious, and the re-
proach of the Gentiles shall no more
come into thine ears; in that day, shall
the sons of them that afflicted thee
come bending unto thee and bow them-
selves down at the soles of thy feet ;
and the daughters of them that re-
proached thee, shall come, saying, We
will eat our own bread and wear our
own apparel, only let us be joined in
the patriarchal order of marriage with
the husbands and patriarchs in Zion to
take away our reproach : then shall
they highly esteem, far above riches,
that which their wicked fathers ridi-
culed under the name of Polygamy.
We will close this lengthy article on
the subject of Celestial Marriage by
propounding the following questions for
the consideration of such of our read-
ers as may be opposed to the plurality
system.
1. If plurality is offensive in the
sight of God, why was Abraham, who
practiced it, called the friend of God,
and the father of the faithful ? Why
did the Lord promise that in him, as
well as in his seed, all the families of
the earth should be blessed ? Why
require all the families of the earth,
under the Christian dispensation, to be
adopted into the family of a Polyga-
mist in order to be saved ? Why
choose a Polygamist to be the father
of all saved families ? Why require
all Christian families in order to be
saved, to walk in the steps and do the
works of Abraham? Why did God
proclaim Himself to be " The God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
188
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
God of Jacob," and say that this shall
" MY NAME AND MY MEMORIAL
TO ALL GENERATIONS ?" (See
Exodus 3 : 15.) If Polygamy is not
to be sanctioned among the genera-
tions of Christendom, why did He re-
present Himself to be the God of Polyg-
amists, and say that all generations
should adopt that memorial of Him ?
Why choose these Polygamists to be
examples for Christians, and say, that
many should come from the east and
the west, from the north and the south,
and sit down with them in the king-
dom of God ? Will Abraham's wives
and concubines, and Jacob's four wives
be in the kingdom of God with their
husbands ? If so, will it not greatly
corrupt the morals of Christians to sit
down in the same kingdom with them ?
Will not Christians be greatly ashamed
to be found sitting in the company of
Polygamists ? Will not Christians en-
tirely ruin their characters by being
adopted into the family of so noted a
Polygamist as Abraham, and be obliged
to acknowledge him as father, and be
called his children? "The Scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before
the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In
thee shall all nations be blessed." (Gal.
3: 8.) AVhat kind of Gospel was preach-
ed unto Abraham ? Was it not the
same Gospel that was preached after
Christ, by which the heathen were to
be justified, and by which all the fami-
lies of the earth might be blessed by
becoming the children of Abraham
through adoption ? Did it not require
the same Gospel to save the Polyga-
mist father in the kingdom of God, as
that which saves his adopted children
that sit down with him in the same
kingdom ? Does the Gospel, since
Christ exalt Christians to a more glo-
rious kingdom than the one where
Abraham dwells ? If not, is it arty
better than the Gospel preached to
Abraham ? Did not Abraham sec the
day of Christ and rejoice in it, and look
forward to his atoning sacrifice, the
same as Christians afterwards looked
back to the same atonement ? If the
Gospel which was preached to Abra-
ham required the same faith — the same
repentance — the same justification —
the same sanctification through the
Holy Ghost — if it procured for him the
same blessings — the same gifts of proph-
ecy and revelations — the same gifts of
seeing visions and of conversing with
angels — the same miraculous powers
and heavenly promises — if it made him
worthy of the title of the friend of God,
and exalted him to be the father of the
faithful, even the father of all saved na-
tions— if, moreover, it saved him in the
kingdom of God — in the same king-
dom where his Christian children are
to sit down with him — then was it not
the Gospel of Christianity— the very
same Gospel that was preached after
Christ ? And if the same Gospel, then
who dare deny, that Polygamy was not
practised by the very best of men,
under a Christian and Gospel dispensa-
tion ? Who dare say that Abraham's
righteousness was not as great as the
righteousness of his children ?
2. Did not the Lord greatly bless
and prosper Jacob both before and after
he became a Polygamist ? Did he not
continue to give him many revelations
and visions, and send hosts of angels to
converse with him ? If Polygamy
were a crime, would not God have in-
formed him of the fact? If it were
sinful, would he have saved him in His
kingdom without repentance ? As Ja-
cob did not repent, but continued a po-
lygamist until his death, and as he was
saved, he must have been saved in his
sins; for God does not forgive sins
without repentance ; or, otherwise, po-
lygamy is no sin. Why did the Lord
restrain Sarai, Abram's wife, from bear-
ing ? (Gen. 16: 2.) Was it not because
she for a long time neglected to give
Abram another wife that he might
become the father of many nations ?
After she had given Hager to her
husband, the Lord then condescended
to give her a son. If polygamy were
criminal and sinful, why did Rachel
give Bilhah to her husband ? would
she have sacrificed her feelings in this
way for the sake of committing sin ?
would she have sacrificed, not only
the deafest earthly object she had,
but also subjected herself to sin and
condemnation, and run the risk of
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
189
sacrificing her eternal salvation, merely
for the object of having Bilhah raise
up children for her ? What benefit
would Bilhah's children be to her, com-
pared with the love which a wife has
for her husband, and especially with
the love of justification before God?
Does not this example then of self-
sacrifice, show most conclusively that
Rachel acted from a higher motive
than the ruin of her soul for the sake
of her husband's raising up children
by Bilhah ? Does it not prove that a
sense of duty alone operated upon her
mind and urged her on to make so
great a sacrifice? How did Leah pre-
vail with the Lord to obtain more
children? She had several years be-
fore raised unto her husband four
sons, but for some reason the Lord
had for some length of time restrained
her from bearing. What particular
duty did she perform in order to again
be blessed with children ? She gave
her handmaiden Zilpah to her hus-
band for a wife. L)id this sacrifice
produce the desired effect ? Yes it so
highly pleased the Lord that He heark-
ened unto Leah, and she conceived,
and bare Jacob a fifth son. And Leah
said, "God hath given me my hire,
because I have given my maiden to
my husband." (Genesis 30.) Can
it be said, in this case, that the love
of having additional children, born by
another woman would have induced
her to yield to so great a sacrifice ?
If children were the object, she already
had them of her own; and certainly,
Zilpah's children could not have been
as dear to her as her own dear hus-
band. What higher object then could
have induced her to make the sacri-
fice ? If plurality were sinful, would
she have expected that her sins would
prevail with the Lord, and that her
crimes would cause him to hearken to
her prayer and give her additional
children I If giving , her maiden to
her husband was offensive to God,
why did He hearken to her prayer and
bless her for so doing? Do not all
these facts prove that God was highly
pleased with the plurality system as
practiced by those holy men and
women.
3. Where was there ever a more
holy man than Moses with whom God
spake face to face ? Did not Moses
know about Christ, and Christianity,
and the gospel ? Jesus says, that
Moses wrote of him : Paul says that
Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt : and again, he says, that
the gospel was preached unto them (the
children of Israel in the wilderness)
as well as unto us, and testifies, that
they were baptized in the cloud and
in the sea. If Moses then believed,
the gospel, and Avas baptized, and em-
braced Christianity, and suffered the
reproach of Christ, was he not a
Christian just as much as those who
embraced the gospel after Christ ?
Moses therefore, was a Christain po-
lygamist and set the example before
all Israel, and when his own brother
and sister, Aaron and Miriam the
prophetess, spake against one of his
wives, the Lord was very angry with
them and smote Mariam with the
leprosy. (Numbers 12.) Did not the
Lord by this act show most clearly
that He approbated polygamy, and
that he held sacred to Moses the wives
he had taken ? Did not God himself
give laws through Moses to regulate
the descent of property in the families
of polygamists ? Was not Moses,
though a polygamist saved in the
kingdom of God ? Did not Moses
and Elias appear in glory to Peter,
James, and John in the holy mount at
the time of Christ's transfiguration ?
If Moses could be saved by the gospel,
and by embracing Christ, then is it
not certain that polygamy was appro-
bated just as much under the gospel
as under the law ?
4. If polygamy was sinful and
criminal, Why did God command the
living brother to marry all the wid-
ows of his deceased brothers who died
without children ? Would God com-
mand his people under a heavy pen-
alty to commit sin and then pun-
ish them for doing it ? It must have
been a hard case, if the children of Is-
rael were to be cursed if they did not
keep the law, and then again to be
cursed if they did keep it ! yet this
J 90
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
must have been the case, if they were
to be cursed for being polygamists
when the law of God compelled them
in certain cases to be such.
5. In the days of Christ while the
law of Moses was yet in full force,
there must have been thousands of Is-
rael who were compelled by their law
to be polygamists or else suffer the
penalty of the curse annexed to that
law : In what way could those polyg-
amists embrace Christianity and be
received into the Church of Christ ?
Was it lawful for polygamists to be
baptized into the Christian Church ?
If not, would the gospel permit them
to divorce all their wives but one ?
Would the gospel permit them
to put assunder those whom God, by
his express command, had joined to-
gether ? If the gospel would allow
all but one to be divorced, then which
wives were to be cast out with their
children, and which one was to be re-
tained ? But if the gospel would not
permit these Jewish Polygamists to
divorce their wives, except in cases of
adultery, what could they do ? Could
they be saved without coming into the
Christian Church ? And if not, must
they be damned without remedy ?
Did they by keeping the law, accor-
ding to Gods command, place them-
selves in a hopeless condition, where
Christianity could not reach them ?
If so, they must have been sent to hell
if they had failed to keep the law, and
Christianity sends them to hell, with-
out offering any remedy, because they
have kept the law and thus become
polygamists. But this is too absurd
for even savages to believe. It would
be most shocking blasphemy to make
God the Author of so wicked a doc-
trine. No one can dispute, then, but
that these Jewish polygamists with all
their wives had the same privilege of
entering the Christian Church as any
others. And as this must have been
the case, then who dare say that po-
lygamy was not practiced and approba-
ted by those in the Christian Church
in the days of our Saviour and his
apostles ? Was there any possible
chance of extricating the Jewish po-
ly gamist from his dilemma and saving
him in the kingdom of God, short of
Christianity? So certain as any of
them were saved, so certain did Chris-
tianity tolerate polygamy ; for we are
certain that it did not tolerate divor-
ces only for a certain transgression.
6. If polygamy is to be considered
sinful under the gospel dispensation,
why did David speak of the honorable
wives of the son of God himself and
so particularly describe one of His
Queens. Would Christ sanction a
sinful institution by his own practice?
and then command his disciples to fol-
low him ?
*7. If polygamists cannot be admit-
ed into the Christian Church, Why
did Isaiah prophesy concerning the
future glory of Zion under the Chris-
tian dispensation, and inform us that
" In that day seven women should take
hold of one man saying, We will eat
our own bread and wear our own ap-
parel only let us be called by thy name
to take away our reproach '{ " If such
things are sinful, Why did Isaiah
further predict, that " In that day
the branch of the Lord should be
beautiful and glorious and that every
one who should be left in Zion should
be called holy, and that all their
dwellings and assemblies should be
overshadowed with a cloud and smoke
by day, and a pillar of fire by night ?
Why are these polygamists who are to
have seven women hold of their skirts
to be called holy — to be so beautiful
and glorious — to have such magnifi-
cent displays of the glory of God in
their midst ? Why is all this yet to
take place under the Christian dispensa-
tion, if polygamy is not to be tolerated in
the church of Christ and is. so offensive
in the sight of God ? Do not all these
things demonstrate that polygamy is
compatible with Christianity, and that
it has existed and will exist in the Chris-
tian Church in the days of its greatest
glory ? Can any Bible reader or Bible
believer dispute this ?
8. Can any one tell why David be-
fore he committed adultery and was
the means of shedding innocent blood
was called a man after God's own
heart ? Did he not marry seven
wives before God exalted him to the
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
191
throne of Israel ? After David had al-
ready taken seven wives, why did God
give him all of Saul's wives in addi-
tion ? Did the Lord think that David
had not a sufficent number that He
himself should give him more ? Who
dare say that polygamy is not a divine
institution when God commanded it by
the mouth of Moses, and then actually
gave Saul's wives into David's bosom ?
9. If polygamy is not a divine insti-
tution Why did that good man Jehoi-
ada the high priest give two wives to
the good king Joash ? Was not this
done by a righteous man and by the
highest authority of the priesthood
that God had upon the earth I
10. If polygamy is not a divine in-
stitution why did God command the
prophet Hosea to marry two wives ?
11. If among the people of God,
polygamy is not more pleasing than
monogamy or the one wife system,
why did God command Israel to kill
all their male captives and to save all
the virgins alive for themselves ? AVhy
did he command them to do this as a
general rule in all their future wars
against foreign cities and nations ?
Was it not instituted in order to sup-
ply Israel with women enough to
make a nation of polygamists ?
Was it not in this way, that He in-
tended to greatly multiply Israel and
make them as the sands upon the sea
shore, according to the promises made
to their polygamist ancestors ?
12. If among the righteous polyga-
mists are not more honorable in the
sight of God than the monogamists,
why is it that God generally chose the
former to be deliverers, judges, rulers,
kings, priests, prophets, and patriarchs,
in preference to the latter ? Why
was Gideon who had many wives and
no less than seventy-two sons, chosen
to deliver Israel ? Why did the King
of kings and Lord of lords choose to
be born into this world in a family
whose ancestors were noted polygamists?
Do not all these things prove, that among
the righteous, God prefered the system
of polygamy to that of monogamy ?
13. If polygamy was not permitted
in the Christian Church, why did Paul
require Timothy to select from among
the church members men who were
the husbands of one wife for the offi-
ces of bishops and deacons ? If there
were no polygamists in church, would
it have been possible for Timothy to
have selected them ? And if not pos-
sible, why did Paul give the advice ?
Does not this prove most conclusively
that polygamy did exist in that
church ? Does Paul any where repre-
sent polygamy to be evil or immoral ?
did not he require such selections to
be made in order that these officers
might not be encumbered with the
cares of a large family ? It might be
necessary sometimes under particular
circumstances, to select young men
that were single for ordination, to be
sent on particular missions, where
even one wife would be a great incum-
brance and for the time being a hin-
drance to their usefulness. Because,
under such circumstances, instructions
were given to select single men;
should it therefore be inferred that it
was sinful for others to be husbands ?
So likewise, considering the arduous
duties, required of bishops and dea-
cons, Paul thought best to select for
these offices husbands having one wife ;
should it therefore be inferred that it
was sinful for other husbands to have
more than one ?
14. Did our Saviour or any of his
Apostles ever forbid polygamy or con-
demn it as sinful \ If not why should
Christendom now condemn it \ Do
they think to be more righteous in
this respect, than Jesus Christ the
great Author of Christianity '.
15. There are hundreds of thou-
sands of polygamists among the vari-
ous nations of the earth who have
married their wives according to the
laws of their respective governments.
When Christendom send forth their
missionaries to convert them, in what
way can they be admitted into
the church ? Must they divorce all
their wives but one ? If so, which one
shall they retain, and which ones shall
they cast away upon the cruel mercies
of the world? A certain wealthy,
kind, and benevolent man, in Asia who
knows nothing of Christianity, purcha-
ses for himself ten virgins and marries
192
CELESTIAL MARRIAGE.
them all at the same time, according to
the customs and laws of his country.
Each of his wives raises up unto him
four children. After which a mission-
ary from Christendom happens along
and preaches to .him and his numerous
family, Christianity : he, and his tea
wives, and forty children, all believe
and wish to be baptized into the
Christian Church. He is told by the
missionary that he must divorce all
his wives but one, without which he
cannot be received. But neither the
missionary nor the man himself know
of any rule to decide which one of
the ten is to be retained ? They were
all married to him at the same time ;
all have been true to him ; and each
have borne to him an equal number of
children. But at length, without any
rule, the decision is made ; nine-tenths
of his dear family are put away ; not
however, without a heart-rending sac-
rifice of feelings on the part of himself
and his beloved family. He and his
one wife are now admitted into the
church and considered good Christians.
But two-thirds of his family who are
thus torn from his embrace and cast
out, begin to doubt very seriously
whether Christianity is as good as the
religion of their own nation. They
begin to think that a religion that will
thus break up families cannot be good ;
they renounce it at once, and turn to
their idolatry. As for the other third
of the sorrowful out cast wives, per-
haps they may even yet have a feint
lingering hope that Christianity is a
true system of religion ; but having
no husband and protector, they finally
meet with an opportunity of marrying
idolatrous husbands : and after a
while, having no Christian husbands
to' guide them, they entirely lose what
little faith they had, and embrace a-
gain the religion of their husbands and
fathers, and the poor children follow
the examples of their mothers. Thus
the nine wives and thirty-six children
who believed in Christianity and would
have entered the church with their
husband and father, had they not
been put away, are forced into circum-
stances, calculated to destroy and en-
tirely irradicate from their minds all
faith in the Christian religion. Does
Christianity require missionaries to
pursue such a course among polyga-
mist nations ? Does it require them
to tear asunder family ties ; to break
up and scatter in some instances nine-
tenths of those who are nearer and
more precious to each other than life ?
Does it require them to pursue a course
calculated in its very nature, to make
them loathe and detest Christianity,
as more cruel in their estimation than
the grave ? By what law of Christi-
anity do they teach such to divorce
any one of their wives, except for the
cause of adultery ? O Christendom,
where is thy consistency ! it is gone !
it is fled ! and absurdity and every
species of wickedness have taken the
place thereof! Thou corruptest the
nations with thy whoredoms, and yet
thou wouldst fein persuade them that
thou art righteous ; but the day is at
hand when thine iniquities shall be
proclaimed upon the house tops, and
thou shall be judged for all thy filthi-
ness and abominations, and shall be
cast down by devouring fire. Then
shall come salvation, and glory, and
honor, and power, and the reign of
peace, and the day of the righteous,
wherein Abraham and his wives to-
gether with all his seed that are right-
eous, shall inherit the earth, and reign
for ever and ever.
EDITOR.
CONTENTS.
Christian Polygamy in the Sixteenth Century
Celestial Marriage
177
183
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
Edited and Published by Orsox Phatt,
at $1 per annum, invariably in Advance.
BR1U
H £
Ail yc inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when lie
liftetli up an Ensign on the Mountains.— -Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. II.
JANUARY, 1854
No. 1.
THE TREATMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARDS
THE SAINTS.
Question. — First, In what manner
have the people of the United States
treated the divine message contained
in the Book of Mormon ?
Answer. — They have closed their
eyes, their ears, their hearts and their
doors against it. They have laughed
at, ridiculed, derided, and treated it
with the utmost contempt. They have
scorned, rejected, and hated the ser-
vants of God who were sent to bear
testimony of it. They have invented
the most abominable, wicked and ma-
licious lies, and published the same
against it. Their priests have hypo-
critically and piously read these lies
from the pulpit, and warned their
congregations from one end of the
Union to the other, to neither hear,
read, nor investigate it, nor any thing
in favor of it. They have denounced
it as "a most vile and wicked impo-
sition ;" "a horrid blasphemy ;" "a
soul-destroying and most damnable
doctrine, emanating from the bowels
of hell." Their editors have for years
reiterated, through the columns of
their papers, these abusive unjust de-
nunciations and vile falsehoods, with-
out giving any chance in their col-
umns for a reply or correction of
these bare-faced and foul misrepre-
sentations.
Question. — Second, In what man-
ner have the United States treated
the saints who have believed in this
divine message ?
Answer. — The people, not satisfied
with having scorned, ridiculed, lied
against, denounced, and rejected the
message, have, likewise, poured out
their abuse like a flood upon the
heads of the innocent who received
it. They have proceeded to the most
savage and outrageous persecutions ;
have fallen like demons upon their
defenceless prey ; burned hundreds
of their houses ; destroyed their fur-
niture, and their stacks of hay and
grain ; shot down their cattle and
flocks for sport ; dragged little chil-
dren from their hiding places and
placing the muzzles of their guns to
their heads have blown out their
brains, with the most horrid oaths
and imprecations. They have taken
the fair daughters of American citi-
zens, bound them upon benches used
for public worship, and there, in great
numbers, ravished them until death
came to their relief. They have
thrust ministers of the gospel into
loathsome dungeons, bound them in
chains and hand-cuffs, and fed them
on human flesh. At one time they
drove twelve hundred men, women,
and children from their own comfort-
able homes and firesides ; seized upon
their property and their lands, which
by their hard earnings they had pur-
chased from the General Government,
and compelled the lawful owners to
wander in the wilderness, and upon
the bleak frosty prairies, without
194
TIIE TREATMENT OF TnE
bouse, shelter, or home. At another
time, after butchering scores of de-
fenceless men, women, and children,
fifteen thousand were driven from
their own habitations and lands, and
compelled to brave the storms of an-
other dreary winter, while they wan-
dered, faiut and hungry, for several
hundred miles through the inhos-
pitable regions of Missouri, being
scorned, hissed at, and spurned from
their doors, and threatened with con-
tinual death. xVt another time, the
Great Prophet of the last days, by
whom the sacred history of one half
of our globe was revealed, and others
of the servants of God, were thrust
into prison, and there some seventy
or eighty individuals, painted and
blacked for the occasion, are per-
mitted, in open day, to fall upon
their defenceless victims and murder
them in the most shocking manner.
At another time, thirty thousand
men, women, and children, after see-
ing much of their property destroyed,
and many of their numbers murdered,
were forced at the point of the bayo-
net to again flee from their houses
and lands, and launch forth in the
cold month of February, among the
snow-drifts and piercing colds of the
almost uninhabited prairies of Iowa,
leaving only a few hundreds of the
old, sick, and infirm, until the season
should become more favorable. And
after having arrived in an Indian
country, and suffer ed hardships in-
describable, what was their astonish-
ment tci find themselves called upon
to furnish five hundred men to fight
the battles of the United States
against Mexico ! They themselves
had just been deprived of all the
sacred rights of American citizens;
had just been driven by the force of
arms from the Republic ; had suf-
fered the hiss of millions of dollars,
and were then in the very act of
fleeing for their lives to the dens,
and caves, and deserts of the Rocky
mountains. And to add to all their
calamities, the government had looked
coldly on, and seen all these evils
heaped upon them year after year ;
they had seen them deprived of every
right guaranteed in the Constitution ;
they had seen them whipped, immured
in dungeons, driven from settlement
to settlement, and from state to state,
and at last expelled from the States,
and told that they must not stop short
of the Rocky mountains. And yet
this same government, that had af-
forded them no protection, provo-
kingly asked them to drop their fam-
ilies upon the prairies, to leave them
upon the western plains, in the midst
of savage tribes ; to forsake helpless
women and children, exposed to the
pitiless storms of an approaching
winter, far from the abodes of what
is termed civilized man ; without
house, without home, without food,
without any apparent prospect but
starvation and death. But here the
scenery does not close, for scarcely
had the five hundred men bid adieu
to their weeping families, under
these heart-rending circumstances,
and commenced their long and tedi-
ous march against Mexico, when the
sad and mournful news reached them
that their aged fathers and mothers,
their sick brothers and sisters, whom
they were obliged to leave behind in
Nauvoo, were surrounded by an army
of several thousand strong, their de-
fenceless houses cannonaded for sev-
eral days, several killed, and the
balance driven by the point of the
bayonet across the Mississippi river,
and told to flee for their lives beyond
the Rocky mountains ! Oh, how en-
couraging must this news have been
to those brave and honest men who
were then marching, hungry and
thirsty, across the burning sandy
deserts against the Mexican foe !
Oh, how cheering must have been
the reflection, that they themselves,
with their helpless wives and chil-
dren, had only a short time previous
been driven from the nation in whose
service they were then enlisted ; and
that their aged fathers and their sick
relatives had just shared the same
fate ! This is a short but true ac-
count of the treatment of this nation
towards one of the greatest messages
UNITED STATES TOWARDS THE SAINTS.
195
that God ever sent to enlighten the
world, and towards His servants who
were sent to proclaim it, and towards
the honest humble souls who have
received it.
Question. — Has the General Gov-
ernment any power to protect her
citizens in the enjoyment of the rights
guaranteed in her constitution?
Answer. — She has the poWer, but
in the cases which we have mentioned
she lacked the disposition.
Question. — -But were not these
wholesale murders and wholesale
banishments inflicted by the sove-
reign states of Missouri and Illinois ?
and have the United States any
power to interfere with the acts of
sovereign States ?
Answer. — When a sovereign state
rises up in rebellion and open viola-
tion against the most sacred rights,
vested in the general Constitution,
and by force or arms deprives thirty
thousand men, women, and children
of their houses and lands, and forces
them at the cannons' mouth, and
under the most fearful threats of ex-
termination and death, to leave not
only the State, but also the Republic :
then it is most palpably evident that
these sovereign States are at open
war against the Constitution and the
dearest rights of American citizens.
Each citizen of every State, is also
a citizen of the United States ; he
has State rights and United States'
rights, and when a sovereign State
forcibly and without law deprives
him of both of these rights, he has
no appeal only to the General Gov-
ernment ; and it is her province to
restore the injured party to his rights
and protect him therein, and to bring
the sovereign State to punishment
for her treason and rebellion against
the Constitution.
Question. — Has not each sovereign
State a right to act according to the
wishes of the majority'? and shruld
not the voice of the people in each
State rule?
Answer. — They have a right to
comply with the wishes of the major-
ity, when those wishes are included
within the limits of the constitution ;
but the moment they transcend these,
or undertake to rule by the voice of
the people in violation of the rights
of American citizens, their sover-
eignty should no longer protect them
from the superior power of the Uni-
ted States. For instance, if the voice
of the people in a sovereign State
should do away with a republican
form of government, and establish a
king instead of a governor, the Gen-
eral Government would then have
power to call that sovereign State to
an account, and to protect the mi-
nority of her citizens in the rights
called for by the constitution. The
voice of the people, therefore, has no
right to rule only within the limits of
the constitution. Should the demo-
crats, because they are the majority
in the sovereign State of Illinois,
force the whigs to yield up their con-
stitutional rights, drive them at the
cannons' mouth from the State, and
threaten them with a wholesale exter-
mination if they dared to stop within
a thousand miles of the Republic, we
think that there would be some power
in the General Government to put a
stop to the exercise of such sover-
eignty. We think that the voice of
the people thus unconstitutionally ex-
ercised, would not screen her from
the justice and punishment which she
would so richly deserve. Would not
the United States by military power
immediately chastise such a sovereign
State, and restore the whigs to their
houses, their homes, and their rights
as American citizens? Every man
in the Union will answer yes. If
this would be clone in the case of the
whigs, who are a large minority,
; should it not also be done in the case
of a smaller minority ? If the Gen-
| eral Government has the right to
protect one hundred thousand from a
wholesale banishment, she has the
right to protect thirty thousand from
! the same unjust calamity. In the
one case she would have the power
I and disposition ; in the other she has
the power but not the disposition,
, and this makes the great difference.
196
THE TREATMENT OF TEE
If a foreign foe should make war
against the city of New York, and
c\rive her citizens a thousand miles
from their homes, you would not hear
the General Government pretending
that they had no power nor right to
chastise that foreign foe. If the
sovereign State of New York should
commit the same depredations upon
the city, should they not be chastised
as an internal foe, far more danger-
ous than a foreign enemy ? Is not
rebellion against the dearest rights
of American citizens far more out-
rageous and intolerable than the ag-
gressions of foreign nations ] If the
United States have power to protect
large bodies of her citizens from for-
eign invasion, is it not an absurdity
to say that she cannot protect them
from home invasions 1 Where then
is the argument that will justify the
General Government in their cruel ne-
glect towards thirty thousand Ameri-
can citizens, whom they have seen
robbed and expelled from their homes
by the marshalled hosts of the sov-
reign State of Illinois? Is there
the least shadow of an' excuse for
suffering a State to go unpunished
who thus suffers her own citizens to
trample upon the rights of the mi-
nority, and deprive them of houses,
lands, homes, and all the dearest
rights of American citizens, and ban-
ish them, by wholesale, a thousand
miles from their country? If sov-
reign States can exercise this power
without being amenable to the Gen-
eral Government, where then is safe-
ty 1 Where then can the minority,
against whom the majority shall form
a dislike, find protection from the
sword and the bayonet ? Where can
they appeal for protection, in the
enjoyment of their sacred homes and
firesides, if not to the General Gov-
ernment ? What shall save the mi-
nority, in any sovereign State, from
being expelled from their country
at any time that the majority shall
tli ink proper to attack them with
powder and ball 1 Away, then, with
the unjust assertion, that the United
States have no right nor power to
protect American citizens from being
butchered, and forcibly driven from
their country by the marshalled ar-
mies of sovereign States ! The asser-
tion is too glaring to blind the eyes
of ignorant savages ; and when made
to enlightened freemen, it is an in-
sult of the most aggravating nature.
Question. — But were these thirty
thousand citizens expelled from their
homes and from the State, by the
armies of the State, acting under
State orders, or by mob armies ?
Answer. — It matters not by which
it was done — it is certain that it has
been done ; and, however it may
have been done, it does not justify,
in the least, the criminal neglect of
the General Government. First, if
it were clone by State armies, and
by State authority, then the United
States are deeply guilty for not
bringing that rebellious State to
justice, and for not restoring those
thirty thousand injured citizens to
their country — to their lands, and to
their Constitutional rights ; and pro-
tecting them therein as American
citizens. Secondly, if they were
driven from the country by mob
armies, then the State, if she had
power to protect her citizens, and
did not do it, is equally as guilty
as if she had expelled them by her
own orders ; and, in this case, the
United States are equally as guilty
as in the other case in suffering a
sovereign State to permit American
citizens to be thus treated. Lastly,
if Illinois has not the power to pro-
tect the minority against the aggres-
sions of the majority, then it was the
duty of the United States to have
furnished relief, and assisted the
State in protecting the minority in
their constitutional rights. And her
neglect to do this, renders her equally
as guilty as in the former two cases.
Therefore, it matters not whether
those thirty thousand were cannon-
aded out of the State by the orders
of the State, or by the orders of a
mob through the neglect of the State,
or by the armies of a mob whom the
State had not sufficient force to over-
UNITED STATES TOWARDS THE SAINTS.
197
corae. In either case, the neglect of
the General Government is equally
criminal ; and the acts of those re-
bellious armies will forever be con-
sidered as virtually the acts of the
General Government. And there is
no way in which they can wipe away
the odium, and stain, and blood-guil-
tiness which are upon them, and which
cry loudly to the heavens for ven-
geance. It is true, should they bring
Missouri and Illinois to justice; should
they restore those exiled citizens to
their country, their lands, and their
homes, and protect them therein ; and
restore the millions of dollars worth
of property which those States have
suffered to be violently taken from
them ; it would manifest, in some
measure, a repentance on the part of
the General Government, and serve,
in some small degree, to remove the
stigma that is upon them; but all
this would not restore the lives of
hundreds of American citizens who
have been murdered and butchered
by their cold and unfeeling neglect.
Question. — Have those injured ex-
iled American citizens ever memori-
alized the General Government upon
the subject of their wrongs, and sought
redress from their hands, and protec-
tion in their constitutional rights ?
Answer. — Yes : After fifteen thou-
sand American citizens had been
driven from the State of Missouri,
under the exterminating orders of
Governor Boggs, having previously
applied to the judicial and legislative
authority of that State in vain, they
sent their delegates with a memorial
to the President and to Congress,
who had the unblushing impudence
to refer them for redress to the very
State whose Governor had driven
them from her borders, and whose
Legislature had voted two hundred
thousand dollars to pay her troops
for their blood-thirsty and uncon-
stitutional acts. Yes, they were told
to go and seek redress from their
murderers, and from the murderers
of their wives and children.
And again, when threatened with
like calamities by the State of Illi-
nois, memorials were again sent to
the President and to Congress, earn-
estly imploring protection. I, my-
self, as the Agent and Delegate of
that injured people, waited about ten
weeks at the Capital for a report
upon these memorials ; but they were
treated with silent neglect ! and in a
few weeks afterwards the Prophet
and others were murdered ; and but
a short time elapsed before thirty
thousand were forced from their
homes and banished from the coun-
try. What has the Government
done, in one single instance, to pro-
tect them or restore them to their
rights, during the long period of
twenty years' suffering and banish-
ment ? Just nothing at all. They
have been treated as though they
were not American citizens — they
have been deprived of every sacred
right in the Constitution — they have
been whipped, mauled, and beaten,
until their bowels have gushed out ;
they have been robbed, plundered,
and driven, year after year, from
county to county, and from state
to state : they have been incarcera-
ted in dungeons, bound down with
strong chains, like wild beasts, and
there fed with human flesh cut from
their murdered friends. They have
been tortured, shot, and murdered
in various ways ; and to cap the cli-
max, they have, en masse, been can-
nonaded, not only from a State, but
from the United States ; and threat-
ened that if they stopped short of
the Sandy Deserts, west of the Eocky
Mountains, they should be butchered
and exterminated without regard to
age or sex. What more can this
nation do to fully and entirely reject
the divine message which God has
sent into the world to warn them of
their sins, and to save them if they
repent 1 They can do nothing worse
than what they have already done.
They can react those murderous
scenes over again, and thus fill up
the cup of their iniquities ; but they
cannot perpetrate deeds of a more
horrid nature than those of which
they are already guilty. Editor.
198
FAITH.
FAITH.
What is faith 1 This is a question
often asked, and often answered in
different ways. We shall not at-
tempt to give the different views of
people upon this principle, but only
to clearly define our own. Faith is
simply the belief, the confidence, or
the assent of the mind in relation to
any subject, or proposition, or thing,
whether true or false, which it sup-
poses to be true. Faith is the result
of evidence. True evidence, when
believed, produces true faith : false
evidence, when believed, produces
false faith. Neither a true nor false
faith could exist without evidence.
A child, seeing others walk, believes
that he can walk, and accordingly
makes the exertion and succeeds in
taking a few steps. Now he would
never have made the exertion with-
out having some faith that it was
possible; this faith in the child's
mind is the result of evidence. A
man, seeing others swim in water,
believes on this evidence, and other
circumstances, that it is possible for
himself to perform the same act. He
makes the attempt because of his
faith. Truthful parents relate many
facts and incidents to their little
children, who, having a degree of
faith in their words, follow their di-
rections, and demonstrate by actual
experience that those words are verily
true. These frequent demonstrations
beget almost unlimited confidence in
what their parents tell them. Their
words are considered sufficient evi-
dence on almost any subject. These
same parents, being, in some things,
deceived themselves, teach their er-
rors to their children ; the children,
having proved in every preceding
instance that their words were true,
receive their evidence in relation to
what is false, the result is a false
faith, founded upon false evidence,
which they sincerely suppose to be
true. The faith of the heathen in
their idolatrous, gods is the result of
false evidence : and their faith is weak
or strong just in proportion to the
apparent weakness or strength of the
evidence. The faith of the Roman
Catholics, that the Bible and tradi-
tion without any new revelation, are
a sufficient rule of faith and practice,
is just as much the result of a false
traditionary evidence, as the faith of
the Protestants in regard to the Bible
alone being sufficient. The faith of
Christendom in their newly invented
"god, without hodij or parts" is just
as much the result of false evidence,,
as the faith of the Hindoos in their
gods of more ancient invention.
Before we can have faith in any
thing we must first have evidence,
for in all cases evidence precedes
faith, and in searching after evidence
we are exceedingly liable to be de-
ceived. All the inhabitants of our
globe were for many ages deceived
, in supposing that the earth had no
\ diurnal rotation upon its axis : they
| believed that the apparent diurnal ro-
I tation of the heavenly bodies around
the earth was real. This universal
and long continued delusion was the
j result of receiving false evidence,
! handed down and rendered sacred
' by tradition. Among all the ante-
diluvian world only eight persons
' had the true faith : all the rest per-
ished with a false faith.
A false faith in regard to some
things is far more dangerous than in
others. To believe that the sun per-
forms an annual revolution around
the earth, though it is known to be
false, is not attended with any very
dangerous consequences ; but to be-
lieve a divine message, sent from
heaven, is false is attended with con-
sequences of the most fearful kind,
involving the present and future hap-
piness of the soul. So, likewise, to
believe a religion, invented by unin-
spired men, to be of divine origin, is
equally fatal in its consequences.
Faith most generally leads to works
FAITH.
199
corresponding in nature 'with the be- I
lief. Faith in the heathen systems i
of mythology caused whole nations1
and generations to worship according
to those systems. Faith in the cor- I
rupt systems of modern Christianity
causes the nations of Europe and
America to practice in accordance
therewith. Faith in new revelations
leads people to practice according to
the requirements contained in them, j
It is sometimes the case, however, j
that people practice contrary to their
faith, being governed by some motive
of a more powerful nature. A per-
son may have a degree of faith in
the Book of Mormon, yet, through
fear of persecution, or some other
cause, he may refuse obedience to
its requirements. A farmer may be-
lieve that if he sows his fields and
cultivates them they will yield an
abundant harvest, but, through lazi-
ness, he neglects to act according to
his faith, and therefore does not reap
the reward. When faith, either true
or false, is sufficiently powerful to
lead to action, it produces effects
accordingly. The faith of Paul that
Jesus of Nazareth was an impostor
led him to do many things against
him : his faith, after seeing the light
and hearing the voice from the heav-
ens, led him to spend his life in advo-
cating his doctrine. The faith of
some led them to think that they
were doing God service in killing the
Apostles; the faith of others made
them willing to die for their testi-
mony concerning Jesus. The mur-
derers of the apostles, and the apos-
tles themselves, both had faith and
works ; the one had false faith and
wicked works ; the other had true
faith and righteous works. Faith
alone will not save men ; neither will
faith and works save them, unless
they are of the right kind. Indeed
the faith and works of the greatest
portion of mankind will be the very
cause of their damnation. True faith
and righteous works are essential to
salvation; and without both of these
no man ever was or ever can be saved.
Unless the true principles of sal-
vation be revealed and established
by sufficient evidence, there could be
no true faith and works by which
mankind could obtain salvation ; for
in the system of salvation, works fol-
low faith, and faith follows evidence,
and evidence accompanies the re-
vealed truth. For instance, God
reveals the great and sublime truths
contained in the Book of Mormon.
Next, He sends evidence sufficient
to convince mankind of the divine
authenticity of these truths. Third-
ly, this evidence produces faith in
the minds of those who candidly and
carefully examine it. Fourthly, this
faith will lead the honest to do the
works required of them in that book.
And lastly, through the atonement
of Christ these faith and works, com-
bined together, will surely save them
in the kingdom of God.
The evidence which God always
gives to establish the divinity of His
revelations, is sufficient to produce
faith in the heart of every person
living, who examines it in a proper
manner. Hence every creature iu
all the world, who has come to years
of understanding, and who has evi-
dence placed within his reach, is
condemned if he does not believe it.
There are some who say that, if the
evidence were sufficient, they would
be compelled to believe ; but this is
not true, — the evidence may be suf-
ficient, and yet they may refuse to
examine it ; or they may examine it
with prejudiced minds, or they may
be careless iu their examinations, or
they may refuse to examine it in the
manner in which God has directed ;
or they may examine it with a deter-
mination not to embrace it, even
though it be true : or they may be
partial in weighing the evidence for,
and apparently against it, with a
most anxious desire and hope, that
they shall find it false. All these
obstacles, and many others that
might be named, prevent them from
believing that which an honest, can-
did, unprejudiced, and prayerful
mind would believe. Therefore it is
not for the lack of evidence that
200
FAITH.
they disbelieve, but it ia their own
evil hearts, and the darkness which
they bring with them in their inves-
tigations. "When God reveals a
truth, as it is always accompanied
with sufficient evidence, all people,
because of their agency, can believe
or disbelieve it, as they choose ; and
if they believe it, they can also obey
or disobey it, as they choose : and
herein is the condemnation of man,
because they prefer unbelief to faith,
and disobedience to obedience.
When the Apostles were com-
manded to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature,
they were informed that he who be-
lieved the Gospel and was baptized
should be saved ; and he who be-
lieved not should be damned. To
believe the Gospel, as the Apostles
preached it, was not sufficient, but
Jesus added the condition of bap-
tism, clearly showing that their faith
must be manifested by their works,
otherwise it would be of no benefit
to them. Jesus very well understood
that the works necessary to salvation
never would be performed without
faith, which always precedes them ;
and as this faith was in their power to
obtain through the evidence offered
by the preaching of his Apostles, he
determined to damn every creature
in all the world that would not be-
lieve the message they taught.
There are some who believe that
faith alone, unaccompanied by works,
is sufficient for justification, sancti-
fication, and salvation. But what
would it benefit a hungry man, in a
field, who believes that in the house
there is a table spread for him, with
an abundance of food, if he make no
exertion to approach the house and
obtain the blessing ? What profit
would it be to a rich man who has
faith in the words of Jesus, concern-
ing the feeding of the hungry and
the clothing of the naked, unless he
have works corresponding to that
faith ? What blessing would be ob-
tained by believing every word which
Christ has spoken, unless we do them %
It is not the person who merely be-
lieves in the sayings of Christ, that
is justified, but it is he who shows
his faith by obeying them. When
Jesus speaks of believers, he has
reference, most generally, to those
whose faith had been sufficiently
strong to lead them to obedience.
It is to these kind of believers that
he refers in the following passages :
" Verily, verily, I say unto you, he
that hearcth my words, and be-
lieveth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come
unto condemnation ; but is passed
from death unto life." " For God
so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." " He
that believeth on him is not con-
demned."
Jesus here refers to a class of be-
lievers who should fully prove their
faith by their obedience. Such, and
such alone, should be freed from con-
demnation— should pass from death
unto life — should become the chil-
dren of God by having a faith that
would lead them to obey. All other
believers are without justification —
without hope — without everlasting
life, and will be damned, the same
as unbelievers, because they profess
to believe on the words of the Son of
God, but will not obey them.
Jesus says, " If a man love me,
he will keep my words; and my
Father will love him, and we will
come unto him, and make our abode
with him. He that loveth me not
keepeth not my sayings." As a
man's love is manifested by his works,
so is his faith.
John says that, " Whosoever be-
lieveth that Jesus is the Christ, is born
of God." It is evident, from the
whole Epistle in which these words
are contained, that none were to be
considered as really believing that
Jesus was the Christ, only those who
manifested it by keeping his com-
mandments ; for he further says,
" Hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith, I know him and
FAITH.
201
keepetli not his commandments, is ' is an immersion in water for the re-
a liar, and the truth is not in him. mission of sins : the third is the re-
13ut whoso keepeth his word, in him ccption of the ordinance of the laying
verily is the love of God perfected : on of the hands for the baptism of the
hereby know we that we are in him." Holy Ghost : these are the first coni-
And again, he says, "Every one mandments in the Gospel. No man
that doeth righteousness is born of has a saving faith without attending
him." " Whosoever doeth not righ- to these three requirements. No
teousness is not of God." " He that person can be a believer in Christ,
keepeth his commandments dwelleth in the scriptural sense of that term,
in him, and he in him." " Every without complying, in the strictest
one that loveth is born of God, and manner, with these commandments:
knoweth God." " He that loveth without receiving these, it will be in
not, knoweth not God ; for God is vain for him to pray for a forgiveness
love." " He that dwelleth in love, of sins, or for the baptism of the spir-
dwelleth in God, and God in him. it, or for salvation : and if he flatters
Herein is our love made perfect, that himself that he loves God, or that
we may have boldness in the day of; he can obtain eternal life without
judgment ; because, as he is, so are obeying these first commandments,
we in this world. There is no fear ho is wofully deceived. Indeed, these
in love, but perfect love casteth out are the introductory principles, and
fear ; because fear hath torment, lie the only principles by which men and
that feareth is not made perfect in women can be born into the king-
love. AVe love him because he first c]0m of Christ, and become his sons
loved us." " This is the love of and daughters. After attending to
God, that we keep his command- these, there are other commandments
ments ; and his commandments arc for them to obey ; but if they under-
not grievous." take to obey the others first, they
From all these passages it is easy i will find their endeavors unaccepta-
to perceive that salvation depends ble in the sight of God. For instance,
upon our loving God; and that lov- God requires his sons and daughters
ing God is the keeping of his com- to keep the Sabbath day holy ; but
mandments; and the keeping of his no man can keep the Sabbath holy
commandments is the only sure evi- until he has attended to the first three
dence of our really believing that commandments of the Gospel, alter
Jesus is the Christ. Let no persons, which he can keep the Sabbaih ac-
therefore, flatter or deceive them- | cording to the mind of God, but not
selves with the idea that they believe before. There are many command-
from their heart, that Jesus is the, ments which none but those who are
Christ, or that they are born of God ; I born of God can keep. And for a
or that they have passed from death man to undertake to keep them before
unto life, or that they love God, un- attending to the first three, would be
less they are certain that they have like a child's undertaking to read be-
kept his commandments and sayings, fore it had learned the alphabet.
Millions are deceiving themselves with | A faith, then, that brings remis-
a false faith and with a false hope— ' sion of sins or justification to the
deluding themselves with the notion sinner, is that which is connected
that they are born of God, when they , with repentance and baptism. Faith
have not attended even to the first alone will not justify; faith and re-
commandments in relation to their ;pentance alone will not justify ; faith
adoption. All such will meet with a and baptism alone will not justify ;
bitter disappointment.
The first effect of true faith is a
sincere, true, and thorough repen-
tance of all sins ; the second effect
but faith, repentance and baptism
will justify and bring remission of
sins ihrough the blood of Christ.
What does Paul mean, when he says,
202
FAITH.
"Therefore being justified by faith
we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ ?" He means that
faith is the starting point — the foun-
dation and cause of our repentance
and baptism which bring remission
or justification ; and being the cause
which leads to those results, it is not
improper to impute justification to
faith. What does that scripture mean
that says, "If thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto
salvation ?" It means that real faith
in the heart is that which leads to
obedience: for a man who does not
obey, only has a degree of faith, and
not a living faith in the heart which
in all cases will lead to repentance,
confession, baptism, laying on of
hands, &e. All will admit that to
believe with the heart leads to and
includes repentance. Why not also
admit that it includes every other
commandment of the gospel ? Be-
cause believing with the heart in the
resurrection of Christ is the moving
cause of obedieuce which brings sal-
vation, it may well be said that salva-
tion is the result of faith.
There has been much dispute
among mankind in regard to justifi-
cation. Some have supposed that we
are justified by the blood of Christ
by simple faith alone, without per-
forming any works either of the law
or gospel. Others suppose that we
are justified by the blood of Christ by
simply adding repentance to our faith
without any further works. Others
contend that all mankind will be jus-
tified and saved through the blood of
Christ, without either faith or works.
All these admit that the atonement
of Christ is necessary to justification.
The only dispute seems to be in re-
gard to the conditions required of the
creature by which he receives the
justification purchased by the atone-
ment. Those who believe that sim-
ple faith alone, without works, is the
only condition recpuired, generally
urge the following passages in sup-
port of that view : "For if Abraham
were justified by works, he hath
whereof to glory ; but not before
God. For what saith the scripture ?
Abraham believed God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the re-
ward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness. Even as David also de-
scribeth the man, unto whom God im-
puteth righteousness without works."
(Rom. 4 : 2 — 6.) Those who believe
works necessary to justification, quote
the following : " What doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works ? Can
faith save him?" "Faith, if it hath
not works, is dead, being alone. Yea,
a man may say, Thou hast faith,
and I have works : show me thy faith
without thy works, and I will show
thee my faith by my works. Thou
believest that there is one God ; thou
doest well : the devils also believe
and tremble. But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works
is dead ? Was not Abraham, our
father, justified by works, when he
had offered Isaac, his son, upon the
altar? Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect ? And the scrip-
ture was fulfilled which saith, Abra-
ham believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness : and he
was called the Friend of God. "Ye
see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only. Like-
wise also was not Rahab, the harlot,
justified by works, when she had re-
ceived the messengers, and had sent
them out another way ? For as the
body without the spirit is dead, so
faith, without works, is dead also."
(James 2 : 14 — 26.) Raul and James
seem apparently to contradict each
other; and this has been the cause of
differences of opinion in our day:
but these apparent contradictions can
easily be reconciled, if we take into
consideration the two different sub-
FAITH.
203
jects upon which they were writing.
Paul was writing to a people who
were inclined to believe in circum-
cision, and other works of the ancient
law which had been done away in
Christ. And he shows clearly that
circumcision and many of those an-
cient laws were given in the earlier
ages, not to take away past sins or
to justify those to whom they were
given, but for various other purposes;
and that by complying with those
works, they did nothing more than
what they were indebted to do, and
that the reward attached to these acts
was " not reckoned of grace, but of
debt;" or in other words, the reward
of grace is a forgiveness of past sins;
but the reward of debt is a freedom
from the condemnation, not of past
sins, but of the sins which would ex-
ist in case we refused to pay the debt:
for instance, God commanded Abra-
ham to circumcise himself and all the
males of his house, not to justify
himself or his house of past sins, but
for another purpose. When this com-
mandment was given, it brought Abra-
ham under obligations to obey it; it
was a debt he owed to the Lord ; if
he paid it, there would be no con-
demnation arising from disobedience
in relation to that particular com-
mandment, and he would have the
reward of a clear conscience, so far
as the payment of that particular debt
was concerned; but in all this there
is no reward of grace manifested in
the forgiveness of any sins which
may have previously been committed.
Therefore as obedience to these par-
ticular laws did not bring remission of
sins, Paul could with propriety say
that Abraham and others were not jus-
tified by works, that is, by such works
of the law as circumcision, &c, which
were given for a very different pur-
pose than that of justification. Jt was
very necessary that Abraham should
do those works, though they were
not works intended to bring remis-
sion of sins or justification, yet the
performance of them would prevent
the sin of negligence, and would also
bring such blessings as were attached
to them by way of promise. But af-
ter these laws and circumcision were
done away in Christ, then Paul could
say, " But to him that worketh not,
but belicveth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness." If those laws and
ordinances which were given to Abra-
ham to perform, were not intended to
justify him of his past sins, much less
would they justify those who lived
after Christ, when they were done
away. After Christ, these works
given to Abraham to perform, were
not considered even as a debt binding
upon any : they were works, there-
fore, that would be sinful to perform.
The faith of that man that " worketh
not," that is, that does not perform
works that are done away, "is coun-
ted for righteousness."
But as Abraham was justified by
faith, it may not be improper to in-
quire whether there were any other
class of works, connected with his faith,
that were of a justifying nature. Paul
says, " The Scripture foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying: In thee shall all
nations be blest." — (Gal. 3 : 8.) From
this we learn, that the same gospel
that was to justify the heathen through
faith, and bless all nations, was ac-
tually preached to Abraham. Now
in the gospel there are certain works
to be connected with faith for justifi-
cation : by these works of the gospel,
he manifested his faith and obtained
justification ; and not by the works of
the law, such as circumcision, &c.
Paul says, "Faith was reckoned to
Abraham for righteousness. How
was it then reckoned ? when he was
in circumcision or in uncircumcision ?
Not in circumcision, but in uncircum-
cision. And he received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteous-
ness of the faith which he had, yet
being uncircumcised : that he might
be the father of all them that believe,
though they be not circumcised : that
righteousness might be imputed unto
them also ; and the father of circum-
cision to them who are not of the
circumcision only, but who also walk
in the steps of our father Abraham,
204
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
which he -had being yet uncircum-
cised." — (Rom. 4 : 9-12.) From these
passages we learn, that Abraham was
justified before circumcision, conse-
quently the gospel of justification
must have been preached to him be-
fore that law was given. That there
were works connected with the gos-
pel preached to Abraham, is evident
from the fact that all the heathen na-
tions who lived in the Apostles' days,
could be justified and become his
children by walking, as Paul says,
" in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham." There were cer-
tain steps pertaining to the gospel
s.nd faith of Abraham, in which he
walked ; otherwise he could not have
been justified. Whatever works these
steps of justification included, the very
same were required of the heathen
after Christ. These steps of the gos-
pel, since Christ, we have already ob-
served, are Repentance and Baptism,
which bring remission of sins and
justification, being the results of faith,
or in other words, the steps of faith
that Abraham walked in. Therefore
"to him that worketh not" the works
of circumcision and other laws that
are done away, but performeth the
works of the gospel, "his faith is
counted for righteousness," the same
as Abraham's was who walked in the
steps of the same gospel, and was jus-
tified in the same way. This view
of the subject perfectly reconciles the
teachings of both Paul and James, and
shows most clearly that both were
correct, when their statements are ap-
plied to the two different subjects upon
which they were writing. Editor.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
BY THE EDITOR.
Question. How many ways has God
ordained to obtain eternal life ?
Answer. Only one.
Q. How many dispensations has
God sent into the world ?
A. Many hundreds.
Q. Has not God's plan of saving
men been different under different
dispensations ?
A. Not in the least, so far as certain
laws and ordinances are concerned.
Q. What is the plan of salvation?
A. It is to believe and do all things
that God requires of us, and then we
shall be saved through the atonement
of Christ.
Q. Has God required mankind un-
der different dispensations to believe
and do the same things ?
A. In some respects He has, in oth-
ers, He has not.
Q. What are those general laws
and ordinances necessary to be be-
lieved and obeyed in all dispensations,
in order to obtain a complete salva-
tion ?
A. They are, first, Faith in the
atonement of Christ; second, Repent-
ance of all sin ; third, Immersion in
water for the remission of sins; fourth,
the Baptism of Fire and of the Holy
Ghost through the ordinance of Con-
firmation, or the laying on of hands.
Q. Could not any man from Adam
to Christ receive a full salvation with-
out being Baptized in water and with
the Holy Ghost ?
A. No ; unless some other person
authorized has been or shall be bap-
tized for him after he is dead. Neither
can any man from Christ to the end
of the world, enter into the Celestial
Kingdom without embracing these
same principles.
Q. Who has authority to Baptize
and Confirm ?
A- None but those whom God has
called and ordained.
Q. Have the Roman Catholics au-
thority to baptize ?
A. No : for they have no inspired
Apostles and Prophets among them :
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
205
neither have they any new revelations,
and without these things no one ever
was or ever can be called to the min-
istry ?
Q. Is the Roman Catholic Church
the Church of Christ?
A. No : for she has no inspired
priesthood or officers, without which
the Church of Christ never did nor
never can exist.
Q. How long since the Roman
Catholic Church lost the authority
and ceased to be the Church of Christ?
A. She never had authority, and
never was the Church of Christ; and
consequently she could not lose that
which she never was in possession of.
Q. If the Roman Catholics are not
the Church of Christ, where has the
Church of Christ existed since in-
spired men ceased from the earth :
A. She has existed in heaven where
the gates of hell never can prevail
against her, because she is built upon
the rock ; and the inspired Apostles
are in heaven with her whom the Sa-
viour promised to be with always,
even unto the end of the world.
Q. What has become of the Apos-
tles' successors ?
A. The Apostles had no successors
after those died off who were called
by inspiration and new revelation.
Q. After the Church of Christ
fled from earth to heaven, what was
left ?
A. A set of wicked Apostates, mur-
derers, and idolaters, who, after having
made war with the saints, and over-
come them, and destroyed them out
of- the earth, were left to follow the
wicked imaginations of their own cor-
rupt hearts, and to build up churches
by human authority, and to follow
after the cunning craftiness of un-
inspired men ; having no Apostle,
Prophet, or Revelator to inquire ofj
God for them : and thus, because of
wickedness, the Church, and Priest-
hood, and gifts, and ordinances and
blessings of the everlasting Gospel,
were taken from the earth, and re-
served in heaven until the fulness of
times, when it was predicted that they
should again be restored among men
to continue until the end should come.
Q, Who founded the Roman Cath-
olic Church ?
A. The Devil, through the medi-
um of Apostates, who subverted the
whole order of God by denying im-
mediate revelation, and substituting
in the place thereof, tradition and an-
cient revelations as a sufficient rule of
faith and practice.
Q. Did the great Protestant Re-
formers restore the Church of Christ
to the earth ?
A. No: for they had no inspired
Apostles, Prophets, or Revelators
among them, without which the
Church could not be restored.
Q. But did not any of the Protes-
tant Reformers have authority to Bap-
tize and Confirm ?
A. Not any of them : for they pre-
tended that ancient revelation was a
sufficient rule of faith; and, therefore,
that no new revelation was needed :
and without new revelation no man
could be called and authorized to ad-
minister Gospel ordinances.
Q. But did not the first Protestant
Reformers receive their ordination and
authority from the Catholics ?
A. Yes : and in this manner they
received all the authority that their
mother church was in possession of;
and the mother having derived her
authority from the Devil, could only
impart that which his Satanic majesty
was pleased to bestow upon her. If
thorns could bear figs — if a bitter
fountain could send forth sweet wa-
ter— or a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit, then the whore of Babvlon
could confer divine authority upon
her harlot daughters. But whatever
authority the mother might have pre-
tended to confer upon the daughters,
she afterwards was very careful to
take from them by excommunication.
Therefore, unless the Reformers re-
ceived fresh authority from heaven
by new revelation, they had no au-
thority at all.
Q. Are all the Baptisms adminis-
tered by the Catholics and Protest-
ants, and the different sects which
have, from time to time, dissented
from them, illegal, because the minis-
ters were not authorized ?
20G
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
Jl. They are, every one of them,
illegal, and null, and void, and with-
out effect; and will not be considered
baptism in the day of judgment any
more than the acts of unauthorized
men in human governments are con-
sidered legal.
Q. Was not the Protestant Refor-
mation a great benefit to the world ?
Jl. Yes : it served to weaken the
power of the mother church, and pro-
duced a great division in Satan's king-
dom — the mother being opposed to
her harlot daughters, and the daugh-
ters against their most abominable
mother : and in this family war, the
harlot daughters beeame also sorely
displeased with each other. And in
the midst of the contending elements,
wise men became convinced that the
civil government could not safely be
entrusted with any of the contending
parties: hence arose governments sup-
porting religious freedom : whereas,
if it had not been for the divisions in
Satan's kingdom, freedom of con-
science would have been wholly un-
known in the nineteenth century.
The iron yoke of Romanism would
have sorely galled the necks of all
nations upon whom she had power
to place it. It was to weaken this
corrupt, soul-destroying power; and
to stir up contention, division, and
war in all her borders, preparatory to
the establishment of religious liberty,
that God moved upon the hearts of
the great Protestant Reformers of the
sixteenth century.
Q. Is not sincerity a sufficient qual-
ification to entitle a man to salvation?
Jl. No : sincerity is necessary to j
salvation, but is not sufficient for sal- ■
vation. Paul, in his sincerity, verily
thought he ought to do many things
contrary to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus
said to his apostles, "The time cometh
that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service." (John 16: j
2.) No one, who believes the Bible, j
will have the presumption to say, that
those who killed the apostles could
be saved, and yet Jesus says, that those [
murderers were to be so sincere, that j
they would really think that they
were doing God service. Idolaters are t
frequently sincere, so much so, that
they are willing to sacrifice their own
lives to their idols. But the scripture
says, that no idolater can inherit the
kingdom of God. Millions of sincere
persons will be shut out of the king-
dom of heaven ; and yet no person
will be permitted to enter that king-
dom unless he is sincere. The sin-
cerity of some of the Catholics and
Protestants in their religion, will in no
wise qualify them for salvation. He
that would be saved must not only be
sincere, but embrace the true gospel,
be baptized into the true Church, and
continue a faithful member of the same
unto the end. This is the only way
to be saved with a full salvation. As
neither Catholics nor Protestants are
members of the true Church, they
cannot claim celestial glory. How-
ever sincere, they are unprepared to
dwell with God and receive the fulness
of his glory.
Q. How long since the Church of
Christ has been absent from the
earth?
Jl. We have no history or know-
ledge of the Christian Church on the
Eastern hemisphere after the second
century. The Christian Church on
the Western hemisphere ceased near
the beginning of the fifth century.
The Christian Church, therefore, was
absent from the earth for above four-
teen centuries.
Q. What has become of all the
nations and generations during these
fourteen centuries ?
Jl. They have lived without pro-
phets, without inspired apostles, with-
out revelators, without the voice of
God, without the ministry of angels,
without heavenly visions, without au-
thorized ministers to baptize or min-
ister any other ordinance of the gospel,
without the miraculous gifts of the
Spirit, without the true Church, and
consequently have died without sal-
vation. And thus about fourteen thou-
sand millions of the human race have
gone down to their graves in ignorance
and darkness, since the Church was
taken from the earth.
Q. Will all these generations be
damned without remedy ?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
207
A. All these have died without! God had sent forth servants to restore
hearing a message sent to them by | the true Church to the earth, before He
divine authority ; they have died with had prepared the way by the estab-
out rejecting a message, and therefore lishment of governments favorable to
will not be under the same condem-j religious liberty, they would have
nation as those who lived when mes- been killed off as the former dav mes-
sages have been sent, and who rejected I sengers were, and the church would
the same. All these will be punished again have been driven from the earth ;
according to their works, and will be and swch wickedness would have left
shut up in prison like those who per-i them in a far worse condition th;in
ished in the flood, and will eventually what they would have been in if no
have the gospel preached to them, ! message had been sent. If a message
even as Jesus preached the gospel to had been sent, and they had rejected
the antediluvian spirits ; those who it, it would have deprived them of
receive the gospel in prison will be
redeemed therefrom ; and those who
hearing the gospel in prison with
those who died in ignorance. The
reject it, will be sent down to hell j condition of things in the spiritual
with those who reject the same while \ world will be more favorable to their
here in the flesh. This eventually ' hearing and receiving the gospel than
gives the same privilege to both the1 it would have been under the tyranni-
dead and the living that they may all i cal and corrupt powers of an Apostate
be judged by the same law. Hence ' Chinch. God, therefore, has dealt with
the apostle Peter, after having informed ; these Apostate generations in that way
us that Christ "went and preached unto j that will, in the end, save far more
the spirits in prison which sometime j of them than could have been saved
were disobedient, when once the long: by giving them a message in this life
suffering of God waited in the days of i to trample under their feet. Other
Noah," also informs us of the reason ; [ generations are in more favorable cir-
uFor, for this cause was the gospel j cumstances to have the gospel in
preached also to them that are dead, | this life, and in such cases, greater
that they might be judged according! numbers can be saved than there could
to men in the flesh." (1 Peter 3 : 19, S be by postponing the offer of salva-
20 ; also 4 : 6.) The purpose to be
accomplished in preaching to those
who are dead and in prison, is to place
their spirits in a condition to L'be
judged according to men in the flesh,"
who hear the gospel in this life.
tion until they enter the spirit world.
Hence God takes into account the fa-
vorable or unfavorable circumstances
in which generations are placed, and
sends them the gospel in this life or
in the world of spirits, just according
Thus both the living and the dead as He sees that it will have a tendency
will be judged by the law of the to save the most: this, therefore, is
gospel. Those who receive it will the reason why He has sent no divine
be saved ; those who reject it will be : message to the inhabitants of our
damned. gl°be, during the long and dreary
Q. Why did not God send some night of fourteen centuries,
one inspired with authority to build j Q. But inasmuch as it is the object
up his Church, during this long pe- of God to save men, why not send
riod of fourteen centuries ? j the gospel to each generation here
A. Because the nations had become and in the next world also ?
so extremely corrupt through the tra- A. Because if they reject the gos-
ditions handed down from their Apos- ' pel here, they have not the privilege
tate fathers, that they would not have of entering into the prison in the
suffered the true Church to be built , spirit world, and of again hearing the
up among them. Liberty of con- gospel among those who never heard
science was not tolerated sufficiently it while in the flesh: God's justice'
to permit a message by divine author- requires those who reject the gospel
ity to be published in their midst. If to be damned, instead of being favored
208
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
with a prison among those who are
less guilty. Those in prison are in
an intermediate state : they are not
saved, neither are they irrecoverably
lost : but when the gospel is preached
to them it will decide their fate, re-
deeming those who receive it, and
damning those who reject it ; the
one rising to light, glory, and happi-
ness— and the other falling to dark-
ness, damnation, and misery. And
thus will the living and the dead be
judged by the same gospel; and the
mercy and justice of God be mani-
fested to all without partiality. It
will be perceived that the message of
the gospel either saves or damns, in-
stead of sending their spirits to an in-
termediate state.
Q. Is this intermediate state, which
is called in the scriptures a prison, a
place of punishment ?
A. Yes : but the severity of the
punishment is not as great as is ex-
perienced among those who are sent
to hell. Their punishment will be in
proportion to their sins and the light
which they have rejected. Indeed,
the long ages of darkness, ignorance,
doubt, and uncertainty which will
slowly roll away, will of itself make
them wretched and miserable. How
tedious and wearisome must have been
the condition of the antediluvian spir-
its to remain the long period of two
thousand years and upwards without
any ray of hope, until Jesus opened
their prison doors, by preaching the
gospel to them while his body was
sleeping in the tomb.
Q. Will God's kingdom or Church
be again restored to the earth ?
A. It has already been restored.
Q. When did this restoration take
place ?
A. On the sixth day of April, in
the year eighteen hundred and thirty.
Q. In what part of the earth was
this kingdom first organized ?
A- In the town of Fayette, Seneca
county, and State of New York.
Q. How many persons were inclu-
ded in the first organization ?
A. Only six.
Q. In what manner did the Lord
proceed to restore his Church to the
earth ?
A. He first sent an holy angel to a
young man, named Joseph Smith, and
directed him where to obtain the sa-
cred history of the ancient nations
of America, and also the Urim and
Thummim, and commanded him to
translate these records into the Eng-
lish language.
Q. What was the use of this sacred
history?
A. It contained the fulness of the
gospel, as Jesus Christ himself
preached it to the Aborigines of
America, soon after his resurrection.
Every principle and ordinance of the
gospel, in this sacred book, is so ex-
ceedingly plain, that it leaves no un-
certainty upon the mind, as it regards
the way of salvation.
CONTENTS:
The Treatment of the United States towards the Saints, 193
Faith, 198
Questions and Answers on Doctrine, 204
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY ORSON PRATT,
Jit §1 per annum, invariably in advance.
LFrJ
0F3 ijRi
\F)
5= *£ b is to
3
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth. See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the .Mountains. — Isaiah xvin, 3.
Vol. I J.
FEBRUARY, 1854
No. 2.
FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
BY THE EDITOR.
Faith is the gift of God. In what
manner does God give faith ? Docs
he impart this gift to the mind by the
immediate operation of the Holy Spirit
independent of any other means ?
Does he bestow it unsought for and
irrespective of the preparation of the
mind ? Does he confer it indepen-
dent of the agency of man ? To sav
that man obtains this gift without pre-
paring himself, or without the exer-
cise of any agency, is to deprive him
of all responsibility in regard to
whether he has faith or not. This
condition would free him from all
blame or condemnation for unbelief.
If agency is in no way concerned in
obtaining faith, it would be the highest
act of injustice to punish the unbe-
liever : there would be no more re-
sponsibility about him than there is
about the dumb brute. What would
be thought of the justice of a man
who would punish his horse because
he was not harnessed ? If the animal
were endowed with the power of
speech, would he not say, that he was
an irresponsible being, that he had no
power or agency to harness himself,
that the gift of harnessing belonged to
a higher and superior being to him-
self, and that he considered it very
cruel, and unjust, and tyrannical for
that higher being to punish him for
not exercising a faculty with which he
was not endowed, which was far be-
yond his capacities, and which was
a condition that man alone was capa-
ble of bestowing ? If faith is the gift
of God, and man has no ;igency in
obtaining this gift, then he stands in
the same relation to God in regard to
having faith, as the horse does to the
man in regard to being harnessed : and
if it would be unjust and cruel in man
to punish his horse for not being har-
nessed, it would be equally unjust and
cruel for God to punish man for not
having faith, if he be considered a be-
ing incapable of the exercise of such
a faculty.
That faith is the gift of God there
is no dispute ; but that God bestows
this gift unsought for, and without any
preparation or agency on the part of
man, is not only unscriptural and un-
reasonable, but extremely absurd,
when we consider that man is to be
punished for his unbelief. But some
may inquire, has not God the power
and right to do with man as He
pleases ? Has not He power to with-
hold faith, and punish whomsoever He
will, whether they deserve it or not?
We reply, that whatever power God
has, it is certain that He will not ex-
ercise it contrary to the principles of
Justice and Mercy, or contrary to the
revealed character, which He has given
of Himself. If it were possible for Him
to change, or deviate from His word,
then He would cease to be God. If
He would punish the innocent and ac-
quit the guilty, He would be a Being
210
FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
altogether unlovely and undesirable —
a Being to be feared, but not to be
loved. Therefore, we may rest as-
sured that he will never punish a man
for his unbelief, unless man has the
power to obtain faith through the ex-
ercise of his own free will.
But if faith cannot be obtained, un-
less sought for properly, how can the
savings of Paul to the Ephesians be
reconciled with this idea ? " For by
grace are ye saved through faith ; and
that not of yourselves : it is the gift
of God : not of works, lest any man
should boast. For we are his work-
manship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in
them." (Eph. 2: 8—10.) We are
to understand from these passages,
that the grace and faith by which man
is saved, are the gifts of God, having
been purchased for him not by his own
works, but by the blood of Christ.
Had not these gifts been purchased for
man, all exertions on his part would
have been entirely unavailing and fruit-
less. Whatever course man might
have pursued, he could not have
atoned for one sin ; it required the sac-
rifice of a sinless and pure Being in
order to purchase the gifts of faith,
repentance, and salvation for fallen
man. Grace, Faith, Repentance, and
Salvation, when considered in their
origin, are not of man, neither by his
works : man did not devise, originate,
nor adopt them; superior Beings in the
Celestial abodes, provided ihese gifts,
and revealed the conditions to man by
which he might become a partaker of
them. Therefore all boasting on the
part of man is excluded. He is saved
by a plan which his works did not
originate — a plan of heaven, and not
of earth.
Well might the Apostle declare to
the Ephesians, that these gifts were
•not of themselves, neither of their
works, when the God and Father of
our spirits, from whom cometh every
good and perfect gift, was the great
Author of them. But are these great
gifts bestowed on fallen man without
his works ? No : man has these gifts
purchased for and offered to him ; but
before he can receive and enjoy them,
he must exercise his agency and ac-
cept of them : and herein is the con-
demnation of man, because when he
was in a helpless fallen condition, and
could not by his own works and de-
vices atone for the least of his sins,
the only Begotten of the Father gave
his own life to purchase the gifts of
faith and salvation for him, and yet he
will not so much as accept of them.
Faith therefore is the gift of God,
but man cannot have this choice heav-
enly treasure only in God's own ap-
pointed way. Among the means that
God has ordained through which man
may receive this gieat and precious
gift, may be mentioned, the preaching
of the word by men called and in-
spired by the gift and power of the
Iloly Ghost: for saith the apostle,
" How shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed ? And how
shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard ? And how shall
they hear without a preacher ? And
how shall they preach, except they be
sent ?" " So then, faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of
God." (Rom. 10: 14, 15, 17.)
Though faith be the gift of God, yet
it comes by hearing the word. Through
this medium man makes himself ac-
quainted with the evidence in favor of
the divinity of the word; the evidence
being of divine origin as well as the
word. This evidence begets faith in
the mind ; and this faith, though it be
obtained through the exercise of the
free will and agency of the crea-
ture, is still the gift of God, granted
through the evidence accompanying
the preached word. In the apostles1
days, when the art of printing was
unknown, and the great majority of
mankind could not read the word, the
principal means of obtaining faith was
by the process of preaching and hear-
ing, but in these days, in many instan-
ces, faith comes, by reading as well as
by preaching: for a man called and in-
spired of God can both preach and
write by the power of the Holy Ghost;
and when the honest humble soul
either hears or reads that which is
given by the Spirit, the light that is in
FAITH IS THE GIFT OF GOD.
211
him witnesseth that it is of God ; for
light cleaves to light, and truth to
truth; the Spirit gives light to every
man that comes into the world, and if
he loves the light that is in himself,
lie will love all other light that is pre-
sented to his mind, and embrace it.
Light cannot be presented to the mind
of a candid, honest person, without
being perceived to be light; but if he
receive it not, he extinguishes in a
degree the light that is in him, and
darkness still greater ensues, and he
is left to commit evils of a greater
magnitude, until the light that was in
him has entirely fled, and darkness
reigns triumphantly : this darkness
brings misery and wretchedness in this
world and eternal torment in the world
to come. This is the state of man
who rejects light and truth, and will
not exercise faith in that which the
light that is in him teaches him is
true.
The word and the evidence ac-
companying it are both the gifts of
God; but besides these, the light
that is in every man who comes into
the world is also the gift of God
through Christ. For if Christ had
not purchased this gift for man by his
atoning blood, man would have been
destitute of all light. Darkness alone
would have reigned, and our world
would have been a hell — the miser-
able abode of fallen spirits and fallen
man : no ray of light could have pen-
etrated the darkened understanding:
the extreme of misery would have
been the result. But saith our Sa-
viour, "I am the light and the life of
the world ;" all light that is in the
world came by him through his atone-
ment; it is the gilt of God to fallen
man. If the light that is in man be
the gift of God, surely all additional
light offered to him, must be the
gift of God also. By faith man should
lay hold of this light, wherever he may
discover it.
The only way to receive additional
faith and light is to practice according
to the light which we have : and if
we do this, we have the promise of
God that the same shall grow bright-
er and brighter until the perfect day.
Every word of God is light and truth
He that saith, that he is in the light,
but obeyeth not the words of truth,
is deceiving himself, and is in dark-
ness; for "none are the children of
faith except such as walk in the light,
and obey its laws. How many mill-
ions in Christendom profess to be
christians and say that they are in the
light and have been born of God, and
yet they have never obeyed even the
first principles of the light; they have
never repented properly, and been
immersed in water for the remission
of sins by the ministration of one
whom God has authorized ; and yet
they pretend that God for Christ's
sake has forgiven their sins. How
blindly deceived! and how vain their
faith and hope of salvation ! God
has not forgiven their sins ; neither
will he forgive them, until they obey
the message of the gospel, according
to the precise order which he has re-
vealed. Faith is the gift of God and
is one of the means of salva'ion ; but
none can have this gift except in the
way that God has ordained : and all
who pretend to have faith, and obey
not that form of doctrine which God
has revealed, will find that their faith
is of no effect, and that they will be
damned with unbelievers : for God
will not confer saving gifts upon the
disobedient.
Every thing that is good comes
from God and is the gift of God.
God has given revelation upon reve-
lation unto man for his benefit; and
the generations to whom he has giv-
en his word will be judged by that
word at the last day. God raised up
a prophet in our day, and gave him
the (J rim and Thummim, and revealed
a flood of light and truth through
him to this generation. This gener-
ation will be judged out of the books
and revelations which God gave
through this prophet. If they exer-
cise faith in these revelations, and
obey the same, they will be justified
and saved; but if they disbelieve
them, and harden their hearts against
them, they will surely be damned;
for the Almighty reveals not his word
in vain. What doth it benefit this
212
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
generation to offer them a heavenly
gift, and reveal to them more light
and truth if they receive it not? The
gift benefits those only who receive
it. The rest will receive a greater
condemnation. When the honest
read that heavenly treasure — the Book
of Mormon, they are filled with joy
unspeakable, because God has again
spoken to man as in ancient times ;
their souls feast upon the contents of
that holy and divine book ; and so
great is their joy, that they cannot
rind language adequate to express the
overflowings of their hearts. But
how different are the feelings of those
who reject it : light and truth flee
from them, and they feel angry to
think that God should again speak to
man. But God will show them by
his Almighty power that his word
cannot be rejected with impunity. — ■
The judgments that have befallen an-
cient generations and nations Avho
have rejected his word, ought to be a
solemn warning to those now on the
earth. But alas ! the pride, high-
mindedness, and great wickedness of
man cause him to hate the light be-
cause his deeds are evil. And thus
this generation will, for the most part,
perish in unbelief and disobedience
to one of the greatest and most im-
portant messages that God ever sent
for the salvation of the people. Oh,
poor fallen man! how eager for hap-
piness, and yet how unwilling to re-
ceive it upon righteous principles !
Oh, that thou didst but know the day
of thy visitation, and wouldst incline
thine ear, and hearken to the voice of
God and harden not thy heart, for
then it would be well with thee! But
thou knowest not, neither dost thou
consider the fearful judgments that
await thee, if thou turnest a deaf ear
to the last great message of mercy,
now revealed from the heavens for
thy good ! Oh, turn unto the Lord,
and exercise faith in him, that your
light and joy may be increased — your
faith and love become perfected, that
all of the gifts of God may abound
in you, that you may finally obtain
eternal life, which is the greatest of
all the gifts of God to man.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
BY THE EDITOR.
Question. Does the Book of Mor-
mon agree with the Bible ?
Answer. Both books being of Di-
vine origin, they will of course agree;
for God never disagrees with himself;
and His words spoken in ancient
America are just as true as His words,
spoken in ancient Palestine.
Q. Does the Book of Mormon
contain any additional light not con-
tained in the Bible ?
A. The whole volume, without
exception to any of its parts, contains
additional light and truth. Whether
considered in its historical, propheti-
cal, or doctrinal character, it is one
of the most wonderful and important
books of which the world has any
knowledge. Were it not for this
choice and invaluable work, the his-
tory of the ancient nations who once
peopled this vast continent, would
have slumbered in perpetual dark-
ness : all efforts to have penetrated
the mists of antiquity would have
been in vain. The magnificent ruins
of ancient cities, palaces, and temples,
buried in primeval forests, would
alone have proclaimed in silent gran-
deur, the strength and greatness of
the former population. The Book
of Mormon, then, as an ancient his-
tory, and the only history which we
have of ancient America, is of priceless
value — a gem most precious. A book
is valuable in proportion to the im-
portance and greatness of the truths
which it unfolds; and this value is
infinitely increased, when it is known
that it is the only source of informa-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
213
tion upon the subject. That which
greatly enhances the value of this
ancient history is the fact of its being
sacred. There are many histories
of the ancient nations of the eastern
continent, but they are full of contra-
dictions and absurdities, and cannot
in many things be depended on. The
historian, in his researches into the
remote ages of antiquity, is frequently
guided by speculation and conjecture.
These defects render some hi-tories of
less value than others whose veracity is
undoubted. The Book of Mormon
being a sacred history, its declara
tions can be depended on : and when
we read the doings of by-gone ages,
we know that we have no specula-
tion or conjecture of the historian to
blind and bewilder the understanding.
Every event is accurately described :
every word is truth ; and we feast our
minds with certainty and knowledge.
Q. But what benefit is Sacred
History in relation to the salvation of
man ?
A. By sacred history we learn
the dealings of God with nations,
generat:ons, and individuals : we per-
ceive the prosperity that attends the
righteous, and the judgments that be-
fall the wicked. All these things are
encouragements and warnings to us,
and calculated to lend us in the steps
of righteousness, and cause us to shun
the paths of evil.
Q. Is there any benefit to be de-
rived from the prophetical and doc-
trinal portions of the Book of Mor-
mon ?
A. Yes : in this respect, the book
is infinitely more valuable than all
other books in the world written by
human wisdom. The doctrines and
prophecies, contained in it, are so
very definite, pointed, and plain, that
no ambiguity or uncertainty is left
upon the mind in regard to the way
of salvation, and the events that are
to transpire so far as they are pre-
dicted.
Q. But is not the Jewish Record
or the Bible equally as plain ?
A No : it no doubt was once just
as plain and definite as the sacred
Scriptures given in Ancient America.
But the Bible has been robbed of its
plainness; many sacred books having
been lost, others rejected by the Rom-
ish Church, and what few we have
left, were copied and re-copied so
many times, that it is admitted that
almost every verse has been corrupted
and mutilated to that degree that
scarcely any two of them read alike.
The original manuscripts of the books
of the Old and New Testaments are
no where to be found ; all we have
left are mutilated copies containing an
incredible number of contradictory
readings. From these, uninspired men
have translated by their own human
wisdom our present version of the
Bible, which is so indefinite that it
leaves room for different opinions,
clashing one against the other; hence
there has arisen avast number of sects
contending about the true points of
Christ's doctrine. The first thing,
therefore, necessary to the re-estab-
lishment of the kingdom of Christ on
the earth, was to reveal in perfect
plainness the exact and precise princi-
ples of the gospel in all their fullness ;
this was accomplished in the remark-
able discovery and translation of the
sacred records of Ancient America.
Q. Did the revelation and trans-
lation of the book of Mormon au-
thorize Joseph Smith to officiate in
gospel ordinances ?
A. No : God sent an holy angel,
whose name was John (the Baptist)
to confer upon him and upon another
young man whose name was Oliver
Cowdery, authority to baptize for the
remission of sins.
Q. Did this authority extend to
the ordinance of Confirmation, or the
laying on of hands for the gift of the
Holy Ghost ?
A. No: John could not baptize
with the Holy Ghost; he was only
authorized to baptize with water, and
he could not confer authority upon
others which he himself did not hold.
Q. How diil Joseph Smith obtain
the office of an apostle?
A. Peter, James, and John were
sent to him, by whom he was ordained
to theapostleship, and thus authorized
to lay on hands upon baptized believ-
214
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE
ers for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
to minister in all other gospel ordi-
nances.
Q. Who were the first ones that
were legally baptized after the resto-
ration of the authority !
A. J seph Smith and Oliver Cow-
dery. After John the Baptist had laid
his hands upon these young men and
ordained them, he commanded them
to baptize each other, which they
accordingly did, agreeably to the pat-
tern given in the book of Mormon.
And after having received the office of
the apostleship, they confirmed each
other by the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost. They
were also commanded to ordain each
other as a pattern for future ordinations.
Q Was not the ordination which
they received under the hands of John
sufficient, without their being com-
manded to re-ordain each other ?
A. It was necessary for them to
set a perfect example for others to fol-
low. Though the ordination which
the angel had conferred upon them,
gave authority, yet, as it was conferred
previous to their baptism ; it was ne-
cessary for them to be re-ordained af-
ter their baptism, as a pattern for the
ordination of all future officers in the
Church, lest some, in after times,
should venture to ordain unbaptized
persons, which the Lord did not intend,
after the church was once restored, to
sanction. This is the cause whv the
angel commanded a re-ordination af-
ter their baptism. In the restoration
of authority the angel had a right to
confer ordination before baptism,
otherwise their baptism of each other
would have been illegal and of no
more effect than the baptisms of the
apostate churches of Christendom.
But when the authority was once re-
stored, and baptism was legally ad-
ministered, there existed no more ne-
cessity for ordination prpvious to bap-
tism. Ordination henceforth, could
only be bestowed upon baptized per-
sons, and it was the will of the Lord
that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cow-
dery should be the two highly favored
individuals who should first set the
example in all these holy ordinances.
Q. Did God give any further in-
structions preparatory to the re-organ-
ization of His Church on the earth ?
A. Yes : He gave many revela-
tions and commandments to Joseph
Smith, setting forth the true order,
rules, and regulations to be observed.
He also sent an holy angel from heaven
in open day, in the presence of three
other individuals, namely, Oliver Cow-
dery, David Whitmer, and Martin Har-
ris, who were in company with Joseph
Smith, praying in the fields. These
four men saw the angel descend from
heaven, clothed in glory ; they saw
the plates of gold containing the writ-
ings of the ancient prophets of Ame-
rica in his hands; they saw him turn
over the leaves, and beheld the en-
gravings thereon ; they heard his voice
as he conversed with them face to
face : they also heard the voice of the
Lord, at the same time speaking out
of the heavens, declaring to them that
the unsealed portions of the plates
had been translated correctly by Jo-
seph Smith, and commanding them to
bear testimony of what they then saw
and heard to all nations, kindreds,
tongues, and people, to whom the
translation should be sent. In ac-
cordance with these sacred injunctions,
they have sent forth their printed tes-
timony in connection with the trans-
lation, called the Book of Mormon.
These were some of the great prepar-
atory events, preceding the organiza-
tion of the Church of God again upon
our earth. After the way was fully
prepared, the kingdom of God was
set up, consisting of only six mem-
bers.
Q. Did Joseph the prophet receive
any further instructions concerning
the kingdom after iis restoration ?
A. Yes : God continued to give
line upon line, precept upon precept,
year after year, to govern, and set in
order, and regulate all things pertain-
ing to the church, that it might grow,
and flourish, and increase in heavenly
gifts, and be prepared to accomplish
His righteous purposes.
Q. What purposes are to be ac-
complished through the medium of
this church ?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON DOCTRINE.
215
ji. First : God will send His faith-
ful servants in this church to every
nation under heaven to preach the
gospel as a witness and a sign of the
second coming of His Son from the
heavens, to destroy the wicked and to
reign with His saints on the earth.
Secondly: God will, through his ser-
vants, gather out the righteous from
among all nations, and assemble tliem
in one; and they will be armed with
righteousness and with the power of
God in great glory. Thirdly : God
will enlarge the borders of His peo-
ple, and increase their dominion until
the greatness of the kingdom under
the whole heavens shall be given into
their hands. Lastly : God will de-
stroy every nation under heaven that
will not obey the fullness of His gospel
and become subject to the laws of His
kingdom.
Q. What does the Loid require of
the people of the United States ?
A. He requires them to repent of all
their sins and embrace the message of
salvation, contained in the Book of
Mormon, and be baptized into this
church, and prepare themselves for the
coming of the Lord.
Q. What will be the consequence
if they do not embrace the Book of
Mormon as a divine revelation ?
Jl. They will be destroyed from
the land and sent down to hell, like j
all other generations who have re-
jected a divine message.
Q. In what way will the Lord de-
stroy this nation if they reject the]
Book of Mormon ?
A. By a succession of the most,
terrible judgments. Plague will fol-
low plague in rapid succession, deso-
lating populous cities and destroying
hundreds of thousands. The rains of
heaven will be staid, and the earth will
not yield forth her wonted harvests,
and thousands will pine away with
hunger and perish. The bonds of the
Union which now hold together the
States of this Republic, will he severed,
and a fearful, desolating, civil war will
rage between the South and the North.
The people then will no longer dwell
upon their farms, and in their villages,
and cities with security, but they will
(lee from city to city, and from State
to State before the face of their ene-
mies, and fear and terror will be upon
them by day and night. The laws of
the land will then be powerless, and
the people will no longer be under
their wholesome influence ; bands of
robbers and murderers will wander
over the land unrestrained, and thus
will the whole nation mourn and
waste away and perish, unless they
will hearken unto the great message
which God has in mercy sent to them.
There is no other alternative; they
must either embrace the Book of
Mormon as a divine revelation, or be
cut off by judgments from the land,
for it is the sure and certain de-
cree of heaven. God is not to be
mocked, neither can a message be re-
jected from Him with impunity. Now
is the day of mercy ; now peace
dwells within your borders ; now the
proclamation is repent and come forth
with humble hearts and contrite spir-
its and be baptized for the remission
of sins, that you may receive the Holy
Ghost. If this proclamation is un-
heeded, the sword of justice, which is
already unsheathed, will fall heavily
upon you. Do not flatter yourselves
that you will escape, nor suffer your-
selves, for a moment, to suppose that
all is well, for the decrees of the Eter-
nal must be fulfilled, and this land
must be cleansed from wickedness.
Q. But will the Lord destroy the
righteous with the wicked in the day
when he executes fierce judgment
upon the nation ?
A. No: the righteous will take
warning and flee to the mountains and
vales of Utah, that they may escape
these sore calamities ; but even they
will be visited with great tribulation,
unless they give the most earnest and
diligent heed to the Book of Mormon,
and to the other commandments and
revelations which God has given or
shall hereafter give to them. The wise
will foresee the evil and hide them-
selves; but the wicked will be caught
in their own snares, and iall into their
own pits.
216
SANDWICH ISLANDS CHINA SAN BERNARDINO.
EDITORIAL
Statistics of Utah Territory,
as reported by the Bishops, Oct. 16th,
1853,—
Total number of inhabitants, 18,206
Persons on Missions, 139
Births during the year, ending
October 6th, 1853, 904
Deaths do do do 253
We presume that the total number
of inhabitants reported, does not in-
clude the emigration to that territory,
during the year 1853. It is also pre-
sumable that the territory was only
partially reported.
Sandwich Islands. — The gospel
on those islands is spreading rapidly:
from April 6th to July 25th the church
was increased by the addition of about
1,000 souls. The translation of the
Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian
language is completed and ready for
the press.
China. — Our Missionaries to the ce-
lestial empire have returned. No op-
portunity for the introduction of the
gospel among them at present. Wars
and other judgments will, no doubt,
eventually prepare the way, so that
the kingdom of God may be estab-
lished in their midst, and the honest
humble seekers after truth, enter there-
in, and, in due time, be gathered to
Zion : for thus sailh the Lord, by the
mouth of Joseph the prophet, "And
it shall come to pass, among the
wicked, that every man that will not
take his sword against his neighbor,
must needs flee unto Zion for safety
And there shall be gathered unto it
out of every nation under heaven ;
and it shall be the only people that
shall not be at war one with another."
(Doc. & Cov. Sec. 15: 13.) In this
general emigration of the saints from
all nations, China must contribute
her portion : songs of praise and glad-
ness in the Chinese language, will
yet be heard among the congregations
of Zion. The word of the Lord shall
be fulfilled in its time and in its sea-
son.
San Bernardino, California. —
The country of San Bernardino is in-
habited by the saims: it is in the
southern part of California, and ex-
tends from the south-western part of
Utah, to within 25 or 30 miles of
the Pacific ocean. There are three
saw mills and one flouring mill in the
settlement. They are entitled to one
State Representative. The colony is
in a flourishing condition under the
presidency of Amasa Lyman and
Charles C. Rich, two of the twelve.
New Work. — "Joseph Smith
the Prophet." This is the title of a
very interesting work, written by the
direction, and under the immediate
inspection of the Prophet himself.
It is now, for the first time, printed.
It contains the genealogy and a brief
sketch of his ancestors back for six
or seven generations. Several re-
markable dreams and visions of his
father are related. But what renders
the work doubly interesting is the
early history of the Prophet, including
many remarkable occurrences and im-
portant facts, never before published.
Copies of this work would be valu-
able to every lover of truth, and
would adorn the libraries of the hon-
est and patriotic descendents of our
pilgrim fathers, who will be pleased
to learn that one of the greatest and
most renowned Prophets that ever
graced our earth, descended from lhat
hardy illustrious race who first peo-
pled the dense forests of New Eng-
land, and formed the nucleus of a
great and independent nation of free-
men. We have on hand a few copies,
procured from England, printed on
superior paper, and bound in the most
superior style of morocco, neatly
gilted. Price $2; common paper, calf
$1 50; Roan, $1.
MILLENNIAL STAR APPOINTMENT.
217
"Millennial Star." — This is the
title of a weekly periodical of sixteen
pages, published by the Latter-Day
Saints at 15 Wilton street, Liverpool,
England. This much esteemed and
highly interesting periodical has been
published for many years; fifteen vol-
umes have been completed. In the
British lies, it has a circulation of
about twenty thousand : it is also
extensively circulated in Europe, Asia,
Australia, Pacific Islands, and Amer-
ica. Its columns embrace the general
history of the Church of the Latter-
Day Saints from its rise, together
with the interesting news from our
missionaries among all nations ; they
are also interspersed with many arti-
cles on prophecy and doctrine, open-
ing the grand events of futurity, and
elucidating the principles of salvation,
with a clearness which, at once, shows
that they are the productions, not of
human wisdom, but of the wisdom of
God. The saints who wish to inform
themselves of the rapid spread of the
gospel, and upon every other useful
subject, connected with the great Lat-
ter-Day Dispensation in which they
live, should without fail procure the
volumes of the Star, and they will
have a continual feast. We have
volumes 11, 13, 14, and loon hand
for sale. Prices as mentioned in the
Catalogue, except vol. 14, which con-
tains 44 Nos. and supplement, for $2,
or $2 20 including postage pre-paid by
us. Will the saints be indifferent
about procuring these most valuable
publications ? Will they grope in
darkness when light of the most pure
and heavenly nature is within their
reach ? Will they plead poverty, as
an excuse for depriving themselves
and their children of blessings that
would be of more value to them than
any earthly consideration ? Would
it not be much better to dispense for
a while with some of the luxuries of
life, and thus save a little means to
procure heavenly light and truth, than
to live in ignorance of what God is
doing through His people ? Would
it not be more God-like to dispense
with that nauseous and disgusting
habit of chewin<j and smoking; to-
bacco, and by that means not only
save your health and constitution, but
save funds to purchase a far more
healthy and durable food upon which
you can feast your minds both in
time and in eternity? Or will you
lie down and grovel in ignorance
like the natural brute beast, and
yet profess to be Saints ? Will you,
not only curse yourselves with blind-
ness and darkness, but entail the same
upon your children and upon your
generations after you? How can you
be the children of light, when light
shines all around you, and yet you
perceive it not ? One Presiding El-
der over a branch of forty professed
Saints in North Carolina writes that
he had heard nothing of the saints
since they were driven from Nauvoo.
Now, if he had been in China, in
Australia, or in the Pacific Isles, he
would have obtained an abundance of
news concerning them ; but it seems
that some impenetrable barrier down
south has shut out all light and infor-
mation for these many years ; it must
be a dismal place, indeed ! We can
tli ink of nothing to compare with it
only the old antediluvian prison where
no heavenly light or information burst
in upon them for the long dreary period
of two thousand years and upwards.
How long it will be before the prison
doors down south will be opened, we
know not. There possibly may be
some chance for them at the close of
the Millennium.
Appointment. Elder James Brown
is hereby appointed Emigration Agent
for the Saints at New Orleans. He is
requested to go immediately to that
city, so as to be there in time to make
preparations for the ships, filled wilh
the emigrating Saints from Liverpool.
The most of these ships will most
probably arrive between the middle
of February and the middle of May.
Elder Brown has been laboring- in the
ministry with some success in Indiana,
and we trust his active business turn
of mind will prove a blessing to the
emigrating Saints, and save them much
expense and trouble. Brother Brown
will open a correspondence with S.
218
REPENTANCE.
W. Richards, our agent at Liverpool,
and will thus learn, previous to the
arrival of each ship, the names and
ages of all the passengers on board,
which will be a help to him in mal -
ing every necessary arrangement.
ORSON" PRATT,
President of the Saints in the
U. S. and British Provinces
REPENTANCE.
BY THE EDITOR.
Repentance is one of the condi-
tions granted to fallen man, through
which he is made a partaker of the
purchased gift and blessings of salva-
tion. Repentance is a sorrow of heart
for all past sins committed, and a full
confession unto the Lord of the same,
connected with a covenant or prom-
ise, and a fixed settled determination
in the mind, to sin no more. Re-
pentance may be considered under
the following four heads :
First. The evils and sins to be
repented of.
Second. The nature of the sor-
row connected with true repentance.
Third. The confession necessary
for the penitent.
Fourth. The promise and deter-
mination to sin no more.
We shall examine, First, The evils
and sins to he repented of. Before
any one can repent, he must be con-
vinced of sin. Sin is a transgression
of the law. Without a knowledge of
the law, a person cannot always dis-
cern between good and sinful actions.
The light that is in every man which
comes into the world, will enable
him, without the aid of the revealed
law, to distinguish in some small de-
gree, between good and evil. But
there are many evils that could not
be known short of the revealed law.
The light of conscience will make
manifest some of the more glaring
evils : but this light becomes greatly
obscured by neglect and by constant
violation of its teachings, so much so,
that persons may become almost or
wholly insensitive to the dictates of
conscience : many actions which were
once considered evils will, by con-
stant habit, be considered virtuous;
while many practices once consid-
ered good, will by tradition and habit
be transformed into evils. A heathen
entirely unacquainted with the re-
vealed law, would, if he were always
to follow the still small voice of con-
science, receive more and more light,
and be able to discover many import-
ant truths, and to distinguish between
virtue and vice more clearly than
those who are constantly violating
the monitor within them. But with
all the light that he could glean, in-
dependent of revelation, he would be
far from understanding the sinfulness
of many actions, and would be en-
tirely ignorant of the nature of others
in regard to whether they were sinful
or not : and he would also be wholly
uninformed in regard to a future judg-
ment and the penalties to be inflicted
upon sinners ; and without a knowl-
edge of these things he could not
repent acceptably as the gospel re-
quires.
It is therefore, by the revealed law,
that we become acquainted with good
and evil more fully; and by which
we learn that we are accountable be-
ings, and must be judged by the law
for our doings, and that the penalty
of the law must be executed upon us,
if we have transgressed it, in order to
satisfy the demands of justice, unless
we have complied with the condi-
tions through which mercy may have
claim upon us, and may deliver us
from the justice of the law. Paul
says, " 1 had not known sin but by
the law: for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt
not covet," (Rom. 7: 7.) Without
the law, conscience does not teach us
that to labor on the Sabbath day is
REPENTANCE.
219
sinful. There is no process of rea-
soning that will teach a heathen that
lahor on the Sabbath is any more sin-
ful, than labor performed on Monday,
or Tuesday, or any other day of the
week. It is by the revealed law, and
not by conscience, that this sin is dis-
covered. Conscience may teach the
heathen that to murder is an evil, and
human laws may teach them that
death shall be the punishment of the
murderer. Through fears of the pen-
alties of the law and the evils result-
ing in this life, they refrain in a great
measure from committing this crime ;
but they have no knowlc 'ge of the
higher law against murder, nor of the
greater penalty which will be inflicted
upon the murderer beyond this life ;
they have no knowledge of a higher
Being who will call them to account
for that crime. If, therefore, they
should repent of murder, it would not
be for the purpose of escaping the
penalty in the next life, nor for the
purpose of pleasing God, of whose
laws they know nothing, but for the
purpose of avoiding the evils result-
ing in this present world. Such re-
pentance, though good as far as it
goes, is not that which the gospel re-
quires; it is not repentance towards
God, but it is a repentance towards
man, in order to please man, and to
avoid the penalty of man's laws.
There are many among the heathen
who commit adultery and fornication ;
conscience does not tell them that
God is displeased with these evils ;
indeed, some of them do not consider
these to be evils, and have no more
remorse of conscience in doing them,
than they would have in eating when
they were hungry. But when they
learn the law of God, they discover
that these are great evils, and that the
punishments to be inflicted in the next
life for these sins, are of the most
fearful nature. Without the law, they
consider that all is well ; but when the
law is made known, they find them-
selves transgressors. As the apostle
Paul says, " Without the law sin was
dead. For I was alive without the
law once : but when the command-
ment came, sin revived, and 1 died.
And the commandment which was or-
dained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the com-
mandment, deceived me, and by it
slew me. Wherefore the law is holy,
and the commandment holy, and
just, and good. Was then that
which is goud made death unto me ?
God forbid. But sin, that it might
appear sin, working death in me by
that which is good; that sin by the
commandment might become exce d-
ing sinful." (Romans 7: 8 — 13.)
Where there is no knowledge of
the revealed law of God, sinful ac-
tions will not be punished to the same
extent as where the laws and their pen-
alties are known ; for the apostle says,
"Sin is not imputed when there is no
law." (Rom. 5: 13.) That is, sin
is not imputed to the same extent, and
they are not punished with the same
severity, as those who are acquainted
with the law. Hence, the Saviour de-
clares that he who knoweth the mas-
ter's will and doeth it not, shall be
beaten with many stripes; while he
that knoweth not, and yet doeth things
worthy of punishment, shall be beaten
with few stripes. The apostle also
says, "For as many as have sinned
j without law, shall also perish without
: law ; and as many as have sinned in
j the law. shall be judged by the law."
j (Rom. 2: 12.) The heathen, there-
fore, will perish without law, and be
beaten with few stripes, because they
obeyed not the light that was in them ;
but the penalty of the revealed law
will not fully be executed upon them,
and it will be more tolerable for them
in the day of judgment, than for those
who have sinned, having the law, and
who are to be judged by the law, and
have the sentence of the law executed
upon them. Such, without repent-
ance, will suffer eternal torment and
everlasting banishment from the pres-
ence of God. And they will have
weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of
teeth.
Having learned that man is con-
victed of sin by the law, let us next
endeavor to ascertain what sins the
present generation are guilty of, in or-
der to learn whether they have any
220
REPENTANCE.
need to repent. We will, for the
present, pass over the sins of the
heathens, and enumerate some of the
evils existing among Christian nations
where they have copies of the re-
vealed law existing- by millions, and
where almost every family can read
the sacred pages of the same. The
Divine law says, " Thou shall not
kill." Now it is not the individual
who murders who is alone criminal,
but all those who sanction the same.
When the Saints were murdered in
Missouri and Illinois by the mar-
shaled hosts of the wicked, who were
urged on by the highest authorities of
those States, it is a notable fact that
thousands of professed Christians, and
many Christian ministers of different
denominations, were directly engaged
in those most wicked and horrid mur-
ders. When the great prophet of the
Lord was taken unlawfully from his
peaceful avocations, and torn from his
family, and carried, with a number of
others, into the mob camp, and was
sentenced to be shot the next morn-
ing, who was it that sanctioned and
urged on these diabolical deeds ? We
reply, that among the vast hosts of
those who made no profession of
religion, there were no less than
SEVENTEEN preachers of different
orders who were in this council, and
most strenuously urged the cold-
blooded murder of the prophet and
his friends in the presence of their
own familes upon the public square.
Have these preachers and the thou-
sands of professors of religion who
took such an active part in the foul
murders of the Saints, been disfellow-
shiped by their brethren throughout
the States ? No, they are still, the
most of them, retained in the respec-
tive churches to which they belonged.
But were those who immediately par-
ticipated in these bloody persecutions,
the only ones guilty ? Were there
not hundreds of thousands in the
United States and other Christian na-
tions, who in their hearts sanctioned
these things, and who still continue
to sanction them ? Yea, more, has
not even the general government it-
self, indirectly sanctioned these whole-
sale murders and robberies, as has
been most clearly manifested by their
cold and unfeeling neglect, and their
refusal to protect the Saints in the
rights of American citizens, while
dwelling in those rebellious States ?
Will the persons who committed these
murders and shed the blood of the
only prophets which God has sent to
the earth for more than a thousand
years, be the only ones condemned as
murderers in the day of judgment?
No. Every person who has in the least
sanctioned these things will suffer
with the murderers, unless they re-
pent. The Saviour said that the blood
of all the prophets which had been
shed upon the earth, from the days of
righteous Abel, until the blood of
Zacharius, which was shed between
the temple and the altar, should be
required of that generation. Why ?
Because they sanctioned the murder
of cotemporary prophets. The appro-
bation, given to the murder of the
prophet Zacharius and other prophets,
sent directly to them, was just as
wicked as though they had actually
killed all the former ones. So like-
wise, God will require of this na-
tion, and of every individual on
the earth, who in the least sanctions
the murder of Joseph the prophet,
or any of the Saints, the blood of
those holy men at their hands ;
and not only their blood, but the
blood of every righteous person
that has been shed upon the earth in
any age, will be required at the hands
of those among this generation who
give countenance in their hearts to these
wicked deeds. This, therefore, is one
among the many sins which hundreds
of thousands are guilty of, and of which
they must most heartily repent, or else
the blood of the prophets and the
saints will ascend up to heaven
against, them, and in the great day of
judgment, they will receive their por-
tion, not only among hypocrites and
unbelievers, but among murderers,
whose deeds they have sanctioned.
Also, the revealed law says, uThou
shah, not commit adultery." And we
are informed that those who do this
evil are to be punished with murder-
REPENTANCE.
221
ers. The Lord says by the mouth of
John the revelator, that " The fearful,
and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in
the lake which burnetii with fire
and brimstone : which is the sec-
ond death." Now when we examine
the present state of the nations of
Christendom, what do we find ? We
find them continually practicing these
great evils so clearly and expressly
forbidden in the law of God. In the
city of New York alone, there are
about twenty thousand public pros-
titutes, who procure their living by a
constant violation of these divine laws.
In the cities of Boston, Albany, Phil-
adelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and
scores of others that might be named,
there are thousands of female pros-
titutes. Now these wretched and vile
characters are supported by hundreds
of thousands of the male population,
who daily and hourly commit crimes
sufficient to sink the nation to the
lowest hell. In ancient times such in-
iquities brought swift judgment upon
the whole people where they were al-
lowed. For one such crime among
the tribe of Benjamin, God com-
manded the other tribes to go to war
with them ; and the whole tribe, men,
women, and children, were cut oft",
with the exception of a very few.
Does God feel any different towards
this sin now, from what he did then ?
Is he not unchangeable in regard to
his abhorrence of sin ? If so, what
must be His feelings to look down and
behold several hundred thousand adul-
terers, and adulteresses, and whore-
mongers in the American nation — a
nation that boasts of her moral and
Christian institutions, and refinements?
How is it, that the heavens can with-
hold speedy and awful vengeance
from the nation ? Nothing but the
few honest, sincere, and humble souls
among them, prevents an entire over-
throw and destruction. When these
are gathered out, then will come the
day of visitation, and of fierce wrath
which has been held in reserve for a
long time ; then will he quickly wipe
away these enormous, wholesale evils
with which this choice land has been,
for a long period, most fearfully and
dreadfully polluted. But this nation is
not alone sunk down to the lowest
depths of degradation and wickedness :
other nations,calling themselves Chris-
tians, are equally guilty. In the city of
London alone, there are about ninety
thousand public female prostitutes,
supported by several hundred thou-
sand male prostitutes equally criminal.
In Birmingham, Manchester, Liver-
pool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and finally
in all the large towns, tens of thou-
sands get their daily and yearly living
by the commission of this great crime.
And what renders these evils still
more abominable in the sight of God,
is that they are constantly taking
place in a land of Bibles, where mill-
ions of copies of the divine law are
circulated in their midst, and where
all have an opportunity of inform-
ing themselves of the denunciations
of heaven against these iniquities.
Again, when we cross over from Chris-
tian England to the European nations
on the continent, the scenery is still
worse, and too abominable to be
named, or even thought of, in regard
to the extent and magnitude of these
filthy soul-destroying dens of pollu-
tions. In many of these nations,
their own statistics show, that above
half the number of infants born are
illegitimate. Only think of the ex-
tent of crime, when in one nation,
comparatively small, from fifty to a
hundred thousand illegitimate chil-
dren are annually born, which is as
it were only an index to the still
greater amount of crime that does not
render itself quite so apparent.
It is almost an astonishment that
God should have permitted these na-
tions to practice these great abomina-
tions for so many generations without
utterly destroying them from the earth.
And it is also an astonishment that he
should condescend to send a prophet
with a message to a generation so
awfully corrupt and wicked as the
present. They are not worthy of
prophets, or apostles, or the Book of
Mormon, but yet God has sent one of
222
REPENTANCE.
the most glorious messages that ever
reached the ears of mortals, to this
very generation who are worthy of
nothing but judgment: he has done
this, not because many of them will
receive it, but because he intends to
pour out the vials of his wrath upon
them; and he knows that the rejec-
tion of so great a message will more
speedily ripen them for an entire over-
throw and utter desolation ; that his
vineyard may no more be cumbered
with such abominable trash. God
very well knew, that this generation
were too far gone in the wicked tra-
ditions of their fathers, and sunk too
low in the depths of wickedness, to
receive a prophet, or hearken to the
voice of inspiration ; but he knew that
the rejection of prophets, and of the
Book of Mormon, would leave them
without the least excuse, when he
should rise up to destroy and make a
full end of wickedness.
Perhaps some may say that these
great crimes are nut approbated by
the majority, and therefore the major-
ity should not suffer for the doings
of the minority. But we reply, if the
majority do not approbate them, why
do they not put a linal stop to crimes
of this nature? It is the majority
that rule and make the laws of the
land : why then, do not the majority,
through their representatives, make
laws for the utter abolishment of these
crimes? They have the constitutional
right, as well as the power, to make
such laws and affix such penalties,
as shall effectually demolish these
criminal connections. The criminal
code of our country pretends to be
founded, in a great measure, upon the
criminal code contained in the divine
oracles. If laws are made against these
crimes, why not affix to them the
same penalties that the great Divine
Law-Giver has ordained? Death to
both the parties is the penalty of the
Divine law. When this penalty was
in force in ancient times, it was sel-
dom that this crime was committed.
Let the majority of the people in the
several States and Territories, elect
such legislators, as will affix the pen-
alty of the divine law to the laws which
they enact against these crimes, and
they will soon see a great reformation;
and adulteries and criminal connections
will become as rare as murders: every
den of pollution throughout the land
would be broken up: no female would,
at the risk of her life, think of
following a practice so criminal and
vile : the constant practice of mur-
der, would be no more dangerous
than constant prostitution for a liv-
ing. Such laws and such only, will
prove an effectual remedy against
this great crime which has so iiear-
fully and extensively corrupted the
nation. If the majority do not make
laws to effectually remedy and abol-
ish the crime, then these evils will,
in the day of judgment, be answered
upon their own heads, and they will
be found guilty, for suffering crimes
of such magnitude to prevail through-
out the country, when it was within
their own power to have legislated
against them with that severity that
would have swept them out of the
land. The very fact that the major-
ity do not make such laws, shows
most clearly that they are guilty of
approbating the evil, at least, in oth-
ers, if not in themselves; therefore,
in the sight of the Great Law-Giver,
they are considered guilty of partici-
pating in the same crimes. If the
minority would free themselves from
the same condemnation, they must
repent. But how must they repent?
It is not within the power of the mi-
nority to elect legislators, therefore,
how can they remedy this evil, even
if they feel ever so much disposed ?
We reply, that they can repent of
ever having cast a vote for the elec-
tion of a legislator, that would not
promise, before hand, that he would
use every exertion 1o have such laws
passed ; and they can reform, by not
being guilty, for the future, of using
their influence and vote for the election
of legislators who will not do their
duty in this respect. This kind of
repentance and reformation will save
the majority from the condemnation
that rests upon the minority; and
without such repentance, the minor-
ity, as well as the majority, will be
REPENTANCE.
223
considered, in the great judgment, as I
being guilty of participating in the
same crimes. It was for like reasons, I
that God visited in judgment, the
whole tribe of Benjamin and nearly
extinguished them from the face of
the earth. It was not because the i
whole tribe had been directly guilty
of the crime, but because they refused '
to bring the few that were guilty to j
justice; therefore God held the ma-
jority, yes, even the whole tribe, with
the exception of a very few, responsi-
ble for the wicked acts of the few indi-
viduals; and the same penalty of death
that would have been inflicted only
upon the few who were immediately i
guilty, was with equal justice in- ;
dieted upon the whole who refused
to deliver up the criminals. So like-
wise, shall it be with this nation, un-
less they do away these abominations
that are in their midst : God will de-
nounce them as being equally guilty
as those who commit these crimes :
and he will inflict upon them the
same penalty, that should have been
inflicted upon the criminals ; and he
will cast them down to hell to dwell
with such vile and abominable char-
acters, because they did not destroy
these crimes from the land.
The people of the United States are
far more guilty in this one respect,
than the people in other governments ;
for here, it is the people who make
the laws, through the legislators of their
own choosing, consequently the peo-
ple are responsible, not only for
the laws that are made, but for the
neglect to make any laws that ought
to be made. But in many other gov-
ernments the people have no choice in
the appointment of their law-givers ;
and if the law-making department
make unjust laws, or refuse to make
laws for the suppression of crime, the
people cannot remedy the evil with-
out revolutionizing their forms of gov-
ernment. Jn such cases the respon-
sibility rests upon the individuals
committing the crime, and upon the
law-making department who do not
by appropriate laws suppress it, and
also upon all others who approbate
the same, or do not protest against it.
The people of Utah are the only
ones in this nation who have taken
efl'ectual measures (we will not say to
supj/ress. for the word is entirely in-
applicable to them,) but to prevent
adulteries and criminal connections
between the sexes. The punishment
in that territory, for these crimes is
DEATH TO BOTH 3IALE AND
FEMALE. And this law is written on
the hearts and printed in the thoughts
of the whole people. Does not this
righteous and just law have its de-
sired effect upon them ? Yes ; it es-
tablishes virtue upon a permanent
foundation, and deals out justice to
the vile seducer, adidterer and whore-
monger, so far as it can be dealt out
in this life; it preserves the purity of
the morals of the whole population,
which is essentially necessary to the
peace, happiness, and prosperity of any
people, government, or nation. There,
no houses of ill-fame, or public, or
private prostitutes, can be found to
corrupt society and pollute the land.
There, no arch seducer is permitted to
flatter the young and inexperienced
female, till he has ruined his victim
and left her an outcast from society.
There, no vile adulterer can creep,
into families, and violate the sacred
chastity of the marriage covenant.
What prevents these evils? It is the
righteousness of the people, and the
righteousness of their laws; it is the
love of virtue and the fear of punish-
ment combined. This is the kind of
repentance and reformation acceptable
in the sight of God ; it is to repent,
not in word only, but in deed, and in
truth, and in the enactment of just
and equitable laws ; and in the execu-
tion of these laws upon the transgres-
sor. Repentance is not to ascend into
a finely cushioned pulpit, and there
whine over the wickedness of the
people, without taking any effectual
means to reform and suppress that
wickedness. Repentance does not
consist in merely pointing out the
evil and professing to be very much
grieved that it exists, but it consists in
refraining from the evil, and pointing
out the remedy by which it can be
corrected, and applying that remedy
224
REPENTANCE.
as far as possible, and teaching- all
others to apply it. Utah is an exam-
ple ; and the virtuous results of her
wholesome and just laws should in-
duce the States and other Territories to
follow in the same virtuous track.
Let them try it, and we will insure
them a much more wholesome moral
atmosphere ; and the overflowing'
floods of prostitution will be assuaged,
and the fountain will dry up, and the
houses of ill-fame will be abolished;
and these abominable evils will van-
ish away ; and the American nation
will become a virtuous people — an
example for all other nations to fol-
low ; and God will repent of the evil
which he intends to bring upon them ;
and his hand of judgment will be
lightened, and his chastisements will
not be so heavy upon them. But if
they repent not, but permit these
crimes to continue, the Lord will sure-
ly visit them, and will not spare, but
will execute all his fierce wrath upon
them, until they shall cease to be a
nation before him ; and they shall
know that it is the Lord against whom
they have sinned, and before whom
their abominations have continually
been practiced, in defiance of his
laws, and of his holy and just indig-
nation.
Among the various evils forbidden
by the revealed law, is that of false-
hood. God so detests this evil, that
he has informed us, that whosoever
"loveth or maketh a lie shall have
their part in that lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone." God is
a God of truth, and cannot lie without
violating the great perfections and at-
tributes of his nature, which if he
should do, his power and glory would
cease, and other Beings who are filled
witli all the fullness of his attributes,
would succeed in his place. But God
knowing all things, and loving right-
eousness and truth with a perfect love,
it is impossible for him to violate the
great unchangeable principles of his
nature. Now all those who are per-
mitted to dwell in his presence, must
love truth as he loves it, and be as
stable and unchangeable in truth as
he is. All who are otherwise, can by
no means be permitted to dwell there,
to disturb the peace, happiness, con-
fidence, and truthfulness that reign
universally in those pure and heavenly
mansions. The devil was a liar from
the beginning, and is the father of lies,
and all those who are addicted to this
evil, are his children, and will dwell
with their father, and be miserable as
he is miserable, and partake with him
of all the bitterness of hell, and asso-
ciate with liars, and deceivers, and
every evil doer. Besides the lake of
fire into which they are cast, they will
make an additional hell of their own
by their own demoniac and malicious
passions.
(To be continued.)
CONTENTS:
Faith is the gift of God, 209
Questions and Answers, .212
Editorial. — Statistics of Utah — Sandwich Islands — China — San Bernardino, Cal-
ifornia— New Work — Millennial Star — Appointment, 216
Repentance, , 281
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY OB SON PRATT,
Jit $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
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9
All ye inhabitants of i lit- world, ami dwellers on the earth. See Ye. when ile
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains. — Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. JJ.
MARCH, 1854
No. 3.
POWERS OF NATURE.
BY THE EDITOR.
Man, by his researches, has discov-
ered many methods of combining the
powers of nature, so as to produce
astonishing and beneficial results : he
has, by the happy application of me-
chanical skill, so arranged the parts
of machinery, that, by developing the
forces of nature in connection with
them, results follow which would be
altogether incredible to the ignorant
and uninformed. These powers, the
elements of which, in the hands of
skillful and experienced mechanicians, [
produce such astonishing eflects, are, I
when traced to their origin, nothing
less than the powers ordained of God ;
powers that pervade all nature, or in
other words, the power of God, acting
according to prescribed laws, fixed
and unchangeable in their mode of op-
eration, only when the authority that
gave them directs a deviation.
Man, because, he beholds the eflects j
of these stupendous powers, as they
act upon the material elements sur- i
rounding him, has become familiarized
with them, and unthinkingly calls j
them the "powers of nature ;" and
because they act in a fixed, unde- 1
viating manner, he calls their mode i
of action the " laws of nature ; " as j
though abstract nature was capable of |
manifesting power, and of acting ac- j
cording to law, independently of a
thinking, living, intelligent, moving
substance in association with it. Na-
ture has no power, and no method of |
action, and indeed, no action what-
ever, apart from a thinking, living
substance, which is constantly asso-
ciated with it. What is this sub-
stance ? It is God, or in other words,
the Holy Spirit which is associated in
a greater or less degree with every
particle of matter in the universe, it
is this holy and All-wise substance
that is omnipresent, pervading uni-
versal nature, governing and controll-
ing worlds without number, producing
and superintending the grand and
august movements of the combined
whole, as it stretches itself out on
every side to infinity : it is this All-
wise, Omnipresent, and Almighty sub-
stance, that unites system with sys-
tem, under its own forces, so regu-
lated, as to maintain an eternal bond
of union, and yet so nicely adjusted
as to prevent worlds from rushing on
worlds, as they fly with inconceivable
velocity in their appointed orbits.
Were it not for the presence of this
all-pervading substance, matter would
be wholly devoid of force. The great
central force of gravitation could not
exist : matter could not have been col-
lected into worlds ; or if collected,
there could have been no adherence
of its particles — no chemical com-
binations— no formation of solids or
liquids — no organizations of any
kind — no varieties of matter — no hard
and impenetrable atoms ; but all sub-
stance, without force, would have
226
POWERS OF NATURE.
been infinitely divisible, without prop-
erties of any kind, except the prop-
erty of existence in space. Hence,
all substance, without force, could not
have been otherwise than precisely
alike. It is force, then, that gives all
the infinite varieties of form, taste,
color, smell, hardness, and every
other characteristic of the elements.
This force is constantly acting in a
fixed and definite manner ; so that un-
der the same circumstances, the same
results are produced. This fixed rule
of action is, in many cases, perceived
by both the learned and unlearned ;
and all mankind are constantly gov-
erned in their actions by a firm and
unshaken confidence in the stability
of these laws. Some of these laws
have been traced up from their remote
consequences to a high degree of gen-
eralization ; among which may be
mentioned the grand law of universal
gravitation, by which every particle
of matter in the universe has a tend-
ency, not to attract, (for such a mode
of action is, in all cases, absolutely
impossible,) but to approach every
other particle with a force varying in-
versely as the square of its distance :
that is, two particles or masses, sit-
uated at twice the distance from each
other, will not have the same tend-
ency to approach as at a nearer dis-
tance : and this diminution of the ap-
proaching tendency does not merely
vary in the simple ratio of the dis-
tances, but in the duplicate propor-
tion, so that at twice the distance,
instead of having only twice less
tendency to draw near each other,
they have four times less inclination ;
and at three times greater distance,
they have nine times less force ; and
at four times the distance, their force
towards each other is sixteen times
less : and whatever be the distance,
that distance, multiplied into itself, will
represent inversely the force or inclina-
tion of the two bodies to approach each
other. Now the first moving cause,
that ultimately results in this definite
mode of action, is an all-wise, self-
moving substance associated with the
materials thus acting. It matters not
how many intervening causes there
may be of a higher order of general-
ization than that of gravitation, it is
certain that the first in the series is
not only all-wise and all-powerful,
but as extensive in quantity as the
materials with which it is associated,
and upon which it thus intelligently
acts. If we are unable to trace the
effects up through all the intervening
links to their true origin, we are none
the less assured of the intelligence
and power of the first moving cause.
And again, we behold a grand dis-
play of the wisdom and power of this
governing and presiding agent in the
institution of a law to counteract the
gravitating tendency of the whole
universe, namely : the law of centri-
fugal force, by which the bodies of a
system and of the whole universe
have a tendency to revolve around
their common centre of gravity with
mean velocities proportioned to the
inverse square root of their mean dis-
tances. This law is dependent on the
distances, and is as universal as that
of gravity. All our planets and sa-
tellites follow this law as strictly and
as undeviatingly as the law of central
force. For instance, a planet, situated
from the sun four times the distance
of the earth, will have an orbit vel-
ocity, one-half as great as the earth's ;
at nine times the distance its orbit
velocity will be three times less ; at
sixteen times the distance, four times
less ; at a hundred times the distance,
ten times less*, and so on, the velo-
cities decreasing, not in the simple
ratio of their distances, but in the much
slower proportion of the inverse
square root of those distances. The
revolutions of the satellites around
their primaries follow the same law.
And suns revolve around suns, and
systems around systems, under the
influence of the same grand and ma-
jestic law. And thus the whole
august retinue of the starry heavens
is prevented from rushing to one com-
mon centre, and producing a univer-
sal wreck of nature. While one law
prevents the bodies from parting com-
pany, and flying off into the immea-
surable wilds of space, the other keeps
them at respectful distances, and does
EXPLANATION OF NAMES IN THE COVENANTS.
227
not suffer them to encroach upon the
premises of their near neighbors.
These are called powers of nature
and laws of nature, but they are the
powers of that Supreme Being or Sub-
stance, whose dwelling place is nature,
and whose tabernacle is the elements.
The great Architect of the universe did
not construct the magnificent machin-
ery of nature, and endow the materials
thereof with certain fixed powers, and
then withdraw Himself, or step aside
to see the mighty fabric operate. Un-
intelligent materials are incapable of
being endowed with any kind of pow-
ers, much less with the wise and in-
telligent powers that characterize the
workings of the universe. God is
every moment in nature, and every
moment acts upon nature, and through
nature, the same as the spirit of man
acts in, and through, and upon the
tabernacle of his body. If God should
withdraw himself from nature, or
should cease to act upon it, that por-
tion of it. which is without life or in-
telligence, (if there be any such por-
tion,) would immediately cease all
action : and while thus apart from
nature no laws could be given to it
which could be obeyed : no gravita-
tive or cohesive tendencies could be
exerted upon it ; no chemical com-
binations or organic operations could
be performed ; or in other words, un-
intelligent nature would be entirely
dead, and no voice or power could
awake it, or have the least effect upon
it, without entering into it, and oper-
ating upon it, and through it. It is
only living and intelligent substances
that hear, and understand, and obey a
law. And if unintelligent nature ap-
pear to act and obey a law, it is not
in reality the acts of nature, but the
operations of a living, intelligent sub-
stance inhabiting nature. Unintelli-
gent nature could no more act than
the body without the spirit could
act. Therefore, all the grand and
magnificent movements of the uni-
verse as a whole, and all the minute
and imperceptible operations of its
particles, are the continued effects of
the living, moving, all-powerful sub-
stance diffused through the whole.
This all-pervading, omnipresent sub-
stance is the Holy Spirit existing in
inexhaustible quantities, and extending
through the immensity of space : it is
the light, and the life, and the power
of all things. To search out the laws
of nature is nothing less than search-
ing out the laws by which the Spirit
in nature operates. Man is contin-
ually beholding these wonderful oper-
ations, but because he does not behold
the acting agent, he ascribes the effects
to blind, unintelligent and unconscious
matter : as well might he ascribe the
attributes of the divinity to a wooden
idol. The light shines all around us,
and is manifested in an infinite variety
of wise and beneficial results, but so
great is the darkness of man, that he
perceives not the light; or as our great
Redeemer has said, ''The light shin-
eth in darkness, but the darkness com-
prehended! it not." Man is contin-
ually experimenting with the powers
ol' nature, but he perceives not that
those very powers with which he is
so familiar, are nothing less than the
manifestations of the power of God
through the elements which are His
tabernacle.
EXPLANATION OF SUBSTITUTED NAMES IN THE
COVENANTS.
BY THE EDITOR.
For the edification of the saints we
will give some explanation concerning
certain names in connection with sev-
eral revelations in the Book of Doc-
trine and Covenants. Bv reference to
section 76th, it will be perceived that
the Lord gave a revelation to -'•Enoch "
in relation to " a permanent and ever-
lasting establishment and order'''' for
the benefit of the poor. Many of the
228
EXPLANATION OF NAMES IN THE COVENANTS.
saints, unacquainted with the cir-
cumstances, have wondered whether
the names, "Enoch, '' uGazelam,'n
" Ahashdah, " " Pe/agoram, " &c,
mentioned in that section, together
with those of a similar character,
mentioned in sections 87, 94, 97, 99,
101 and 102, were really ancient per-
sonages and ancient places and things,
or those of the present age. All these
names have reference to modern per-
sons, places and things of our day.
Indeed, when these revelations were
first received by the Prophet Joseph,
the real names were given : and it
was not until months, and in regard
to some of them, even years, had
passed away, before the names were
altered, and others bearing an ancient
appearance were substituted.
We often had access to the manu-
scripts when boarding with the
Prophet ; and it was our delight to
read them over and over again, before
they were printed. And so highly
were they esteemed by us, that we
committed some to memory ; and a
few we copied for the purpose of ref-
erence in our absence on missions ;
and also to read them to the saints
for their edification These copies
are still in our possession. When at
length the time arrived to print the
manuscripts, it was thought best not
to publish them all, on account of
our enemies, who were seeking every
means to destroy the Prophet and the
Church. On account, however, of
the great anxiety of the church to see
them in print, it was concluded,
through the suggestions of the Spirit,
that by altering the real names given
in the manuscripts, and substituting
fictitious ones in their stead, they
might thus safely appear in print with-
out endangering the welfare of the
individuals whose real names were con-
tained therein. It was by this means
that several revelations were permit-
ted to appear in print in the first edi-
tion, that otherwise would have been
withheld from the knowledge of the
saints, perhaps for many long years,
or at least until more favorable cir-
cumstances would have permitted
them to be made public.
It may be asked, had the Prophet
a right to alter names given by reve-
lation and substitute fictitious ones in
their stead ? We reply, that it is only
the printed edition that contains the
substituted names, while the original
manuscripts, that are safely preserved
in the hands of the church, contain
the names as they were originally
given. Moreover, the substitution of
fictitious names for persons and places
does not alter or destroy the sense or
ideas contained in the revelations.
But what the Prophet did in relation
to this thing, was not of himself: he
was dictated by the Holy Ghost to
make these substitutions, for the time
being, until it should be wisdom for
the true names to appear. That he
was thus inspired is certain from the
fact, that at the very time that he made
these substitutons, he also received
much additional light; and by revela-
tion line was added upon line to sev-
eral of the sections and paragraphs
about to be published. But some
may inquire, are not the Almighty's
revelations perfect when they are first
given ? and if so, where was the pro-
priety of the Lord's adding any thing
to them, when they were already per-
fect ? We reply that every word of
God is perfect ; but He does not reveal
all things at once, but adds " line up-
on line, precept upon precept, here a
little," and there a little," revealing as
the people are able to bear, or as cir-
cumstances require. But these were
not the only revelations to which the
Lord has made additions : for when
the king of Judah burned the book of
revelations, which God gave by the
mouth of Jeremiah, God command-
ed Jeremiah to re-write the same.
" Then took Jeremiah another roll,
and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the
son of Neriah, who wrote therein
from the mouth of Jeremiah all the
words of the book which Jehoiachim,
king of Judah, had burned in the fire :
and there were added besides unto
them many like icords." (Jer. 36 : 32.)
The Lord, therefore, adds to His
own revelations whenever he thinks
proper ; but He has expressly forbid-
den man to make any additions.
EXPLANATION OF NAMES IN THE COVENANTS.
229
The high prerogative of adding to an
inspired revelation belongs to the
Lord only : hence the Lord added by
the mouth of Joseph " line upon line,
here a little and there a little, " to
some of the manuscript copies which
were about to be published.
A similar thing transpired in ancient
America. God expressly forbade the
Prophet Mormon to write all the rev-
elations contained in the numerous
records of his forefathers. FTe was
only permitted to make a small abridg-
ment, called the Book of Mormon,
and he states that not one-hundredth
part was permitted to be copied into
the abridgment. The Lord declaring
to him that he would try the faith of
the Gentiles and of the nations of the
latter times, to see whether they would
receive this abridgment; if so, He
would give them more ; but if not, He
would withhold the greater things to
their condemnation.
To add to or diminish the light to
be offered to a generation or individ-
ual, is in strict accordance with the
wisdom, justice and mercy of God.
When a generation or individual is
faithful to the light already given, God
has promised to add more, and will
cause that the light shall grow brighter
and brighter until the perfect day.
But when men despise the light, and
treat it with contempt. He will with-
hold from them, and diminish that
which they already have, until their
minds become entirely enveloped in
darkness, and they thus prepare "hem-
selves to dwell with the prince of
darkness, and to be cast into outer
darkness, where there is wailing and
gnashing of teeth, and where no ray
of heavenly light can penetrate their
dark and dismal abode. This will be
the fearful stale of the wicked, because
they love darkness rather than light,
and will not come to the light that
their deeds may be reproved.
As it may be satisfactory to the
saints to know the original names in
the manuscripts we here present them
so far as our memory serves.
In Section 76, p. 2, for " Enoch or
Gazelam " read Joseph Smith, Jr.
Sec. 76., p. 2, for " Jlhashdah " read
Newel K. Whitney.
Sec. 76, p. 2, for " Pelagoram n
read Sidney Rigdon.
Sec. 94, pp. 1, 2, for " Shederlaom-
ach :' read Frederick G. Williams.
Sec. 97, p. 2, for lw Zombre " read
John Johnson.
Sec. 97, p. 2, for " Seth " read
Joseph.
Sec. 99, p. 3, for « Tahhanes "
read "The Tannery, (or '' The Tan
Yard. ")
Sec. 99, p. 3, for " Shinehah " read
Kirtland.
Sue. 99, p. 5, for " OHhah " read
Oliver Cowdery.
Sec. 99, p. 5, for " Laneshine-
kouse " read printing office.
Sec. 99, p. 7, for " Ozondak " read
store.
Sec. 99, p. 7, for « Shule " read
ashery.
Sec. 99, p. 10, for « Shinelah " read
print.
Sec. 99, p. 1 1, for « SMnelane "
read printing.
Sec. 99, p. 12. for « Talents " read
dollars.
Sec. 99, p. 13, for " Cainhannoch"
read New York.
Sec. 101, p. 4, for " Baurak Ale "
read Joseph Smith, Jr.
Sec. 102, p. 8, for " Baneemy " read
Sidney Rigdon.
in Section 87, paragraph 4, there
occur five names, viz : Alam, Ma-
halaleel, Horah, Shalemanasseh and
Mehemson. But we have forgotten
the individuals whom they represent ;
the original manuscripts being in Utah,
we are unable at present to gratify the
desires of the saints in pointing out
the individuals for whom they stand.
As the circumstances have changed
since the substitution of those ficti-
tious names, we do not apprehend
that any danger can arise from a re-
storation of the original ones. And
we should be most happy to see them
as th y stand in the manuscripts in
the future editions of the " Doctrine
and Covenants,"
230
RETORT OF THE ST. LOUIS CONFERENCE.
REPORT OF THE ST. LOUIS CONFERENCE,
HELD IN CONCERT HALL, MARKET STREET, ST. LOUIS, MO.
January 1, 1854.
This meeting was called to order about IO5, A. M., and opened with prayer
by President H. S. Eldredge. It was moved that H. S. Eldredge preside over,
and J. S. Cantwell act as clerk of ihe Conference; carried unanimously.
The President requested each presiding elder to give his own report. After
a few remarks the representations were called for, and were as follows :
i 2 1
2 l?w
£
H
a
a
0
CO
K
No.
Branch.
Represented by,
<e
ix
a.
3
Priests
1
N
a
35'
Cut off.
Died.
1
'
■
'
—
—
0.
CD
JCity of St. Louis
1
1 1 1st Wnrd.
iWilliam Field,
63
8
6
1
2
1
6
4
2
0 ' 0 a
jVVilliam Fleming,
! 96
9
3
5
1
17
1
3 3 "
James S. Ballinger,
: i4t
3
13
13
5
7
21
5
3
4 4 "
William Gore,
iX
2
4
16
9
7
2
6
14
1
5
5 15 "
i.Toseph Barker,
15C
3
11
11
3
1
3
51
1
5
6 j 6 "
{.lames S. Cantvvell,
301
1
3
36
27
14
7
10
50
6
6
7 Gravois,
j James Wood,
1 134
21
6
6
1
8 'Alton, 111,
Willinm M. Batts,
j 12l
1
13
8
5
«
7
13
2
9 [Bellefontaine,
jThomas Brindley,
15
2
1
1
]
1
2
10 Pecan, Ark..
Letter,
K-
0
1
1
11 (Calhoun, III.,
Letter,
t
1
1
12 Dry Hill,
William Giltings,
2!
2
3
2
1
1
9
13 Scattered,
Various
7<
1
(supposahle.)
14
Keokuk,
H. S. Eldredge.
101
1 Total,
138J
3
16
135
87
48
17
45
159
33
24
The representations being through, the President made some remarks rel-
ative to the Bellefontaine branch, (and in consequence of the reduction of it
by removals,) it was proposed to disorganize and arid it to the sixth ward
in St. Louis ; carried.
The following resolutions were sustained by unanimous vote :
First. That we uphold and sustain Brigham Young as President, Prophet,
Seer and Revelator, over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in
all the earth.
Second. Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counsellors.
Third. The quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with Orson Hyde as their
President.
Fourth. All the various organizations of the priesthood, in all the earth,
sustained by the authorities in Zion.
Fifth. Orson Pratt as President over the Saints in the United States and
British Provinces of America.
Elder J. S. Ballinger moved that we sustain and uphold Horace S. Eldredge
as President over the St. Louis Conference ; carried.
The President moved to acknowledge Elder James S. Cantwell as clerk of
the St. Louis Conference, and Treasurer of the branch ; carried.
The following Elders were sustained, by unanimous, vote over their
branches :
William Field, President of the First Ward.
William Fleming, " Second "
James S. Ballinger, " Third, «
EDITORIAL. 231
William Gore, President of the Fourth "
Joseph Barker, " Fifth «
John A. James, " Sixth "
Thomas Bradshaw, " Gravois.
John Donaldson, " Alton.
William Gittings, " Dry Hill.
Elder Samuel J. Lees moved a vote of thanks to Joseph Seel, as leader of
the choir, and to the singers under his tuition, for their attention and effi-
cient services in St. Louis Branch ; carried.
The Conference adjourned in the usual way until 2| P. M.
Conference resumed at 2* ; after prayer, &c, the President called on the
various officers present to stand up, who being counted by the clerk, were
found to be Seventies, 4; Elders, 33 ; Priests, 6 ; Teachers, 11 ; Deacons, 4.
Total, 58.
The sacrament and blessing of children being attended to, the President
called on Elder Win. M. Batts, of Alton, to address the meeting; who made
a few appropriate remarks on the subject of Unity and Theocracy.
Tlie meeting adjourned until seven o'clock.
In the evening the Saints were addressed by Elder Samuel J. Lees, on the
subject of Spiritual Rappings, and other manifestations of the powers of dark-
ness, from the 6th chapter of the Ephesians, 12th verse. It was a plain,
powerful, pointed discourse; at the conclusion of which, the President ex-
horted the saints to take heed unto themselves, and to the advice given them
in Elder Lees' discourse.
The conference elosed about 8| P. M.
HORACE S. ELDREDGE, President.
James S. Cantwell, Clerk.
EDITORIAL
Perpetual Emigrating Funp. — For where poverty reigns, liberality
It is now about fifteen months since abounds,
the saints in our field of labor were
requested to forward their contribu- i Tithing. — God has, through reve-
tions to this fund. During this inter- lation by the mouth of his servant,
val, only one small branch in the Joseph, the Prophet, commanded his
United States and British Provinces j saints to donate one-tenth part of all
have responded to the call. This their property to the church, as tith-
branch is located at Haverstraw, New ing. The observance of this law en-
York. They have contributed in all ables us to distinguish between those
thirty -three dollars and fifty-six cents. I who are in reality saints, and those
If the saints continue to be as liberal | who merely have the name : for sure-
as they have been during the past fif- j ly those who refuse to keep the plain
teen months, we are in hopes in about and positive commandments of God
two years, from this time, to be able cannot be called saints. Now, in
to send one person to Utah. The looking over our tithing book we find
saints in England, through their dona- that twelve persons in the United
tions to this fund, send off hundreds States and British Provinces have paid
to Zion annually. What a contrast ! ; tithing during the last fifteen months.
Can any one assign a reason for this j The sum total of what these twelve
difference ? May it not be owing to j have paid, amounts to one hundred
the poverty of the English saints ? ! and twelve dollars and forty-five
232
EDITORIAL.
cents. If these twelve persons have
paid one-tenth part of what they pos-
sess, then they have kept the com-
mandment, and there is good reason,
so far as this law is concerned, to be-
lieve them to be saints. There may
be, perhaps, a very few others whose
names have not reached us that have
paid their tithing to other authorized
agents. Be this as it may, we still
think it a matter of rejoicing that there
are hcelm saints in the United States
and British Provinces under our juris-
diction. These are four more than
what there were in the whole world
in the days of Noah. We would
say to these twelve, get out from this
wicked nation as soon as you can, for
we know not the day nor the hour
when God will visit them according
to the threatening in the Book of Mor-
mon. Should there be any others,
besides these twelve, who are almost
persuaded to be saints, we say to
them, comply with the law of God,
and pay your tithing, otherwise you
can receive no inheritance among the
saints, and your names will not be
found recorded in the book of the
names of the righteous. For thus
saith the prophet, Joseph Smith :
" It is contrary to the will and
commandment of God, ihat those who
receive not their inheritance by con-
secration agreeably to His law, which
He has given, that He may tithe His
people, to prepare them against the
day of vengeance and burning, should
have their names enrolled with the
people of God ; neither is their gene-
alogy to be kept, or to be had where
it may be found on any of the records
or history of the church ; their names
shall not be found, neither the names
of the fathers, nor the names of the
children written in the book of the
law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts.
Yea, thus saith the still small voice,
which whispereth through andpierceth
all things, and often times it maketh
my bones to quake while it mak-
eth manifest, saying: And it shall
come to pass that I, the Lord God,
will send one mighty and strong,
holding the sceptre of power in his
hand, clothed with light for a cover-
ing, whose mouth shall utter words :
eternal words ; while his bowels shall
be a fountain of truth, to set in order
the house of God, and to arrange by
lot the inheritances of the saints
whose names are found, and the names
of their fathers, and of their children,
enrolled in the book of the law of
God : while that man who was called
of God and appointed, that putteth
forth his hand to steady the ark of
God shall fall by the shaft of death
like as a tree that is smitten by the
vivid shaft of lightning ; and all they
who are not found written in the book
of remembrance, shall find none in-
heritance in that day, but they shall
be cut asunder, and their portion shall
be appointed them among unbelievers,
where is wailing and gnashing of teeth.
These things I say not of myself,
therefore, as the Lord speaketh, He
will also fulfil. And they who are
of the High Priesthood, whose names
are not found written in the book of
the law, or that are found to have
apostatized, or to have been cut out
of the church, as well as the lesser
priesthood, or the members, in that
day shall not find an inheritance among
the saints of the Most High ; therefore,
it shall be done unto them as unto
the children of the Priest, as you will
find recorded in the second chapter,
and sixty-first and second verses of
Ezra." (Given Nov. 27th, 1832; pub-
lished in the " Millennial Star, " page
284 vol. 14.)
And again the Lord says, " Be-
hold, now it is called to-day, (until
the coming of the Son of Man,) and
verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a
day for the tithing of my people ; for
he that is tithed shall not be burned
(at His coming ; ) for after to-day
cometh the burning : this is speaking
after the manner of the Lord ; for
verily I say, to-morrow all the proud
and they that do wickedly shall be as
stubble ; and I will burn them up, for
I am the Lord of Hosts : and I will
not spare any that remain in Baby-
lon. " (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec.
21, p. 5.)
In these extracts we can learn who
they are that will be counted worthy
REPENTANCE.
233
to receive an inheritance among the
righteous : it will be those whose
names are found in the records and
history of the church, and in the law
of God, as having tithed themselves,
and attended to all the other com-
mandments and laws of God : while
the names of the fathers and of the
children of all others, will perish with
them, and their genealogy not be re-
membered. Such, therefore, cannot
in reality be saints, though they may
have the name of saints. We were in
hopes, when we entered our field of
labor, to have found more than twelve
saints in the whole nation ; but, per-
haps, we may yet have the pleasure
of entering on record a few more.
Emigration to Utah. — Are there
many saints going to Utah this sea-
son ?
There will most probably be from
three to four thousand from Great
Britain, and a few hundred from other
European Governments, and some
small companies from the states and
provinces of this country.
Where will the most of these com-
panies concentrate themselves pre-
paratory to their departure over the
plains ?
At St. Louis, where, by application
to Gen. H. S. Eldredge, they can pro-
cure provisions and other necessaries
for the outfit, at the whole-ale prices,
and thus save much expense.
Which way will they proceed from
St. Louis ?
It has been indicated by President
Eldredge tha; they would go by steam-
boat up the Missouri river to Kansas,
or some of the other towns on the
western frontier, and thence take their
departure for the plains.
Where do the saints generally pur-
chase their wagons and teams ?
The wagons are mostly purchased
at St. Louis, although some procure
them at Cincinnati. They cost from
,*>60 to $75, according to the quality.
These are generally shipped on steam-
boats to the point of rendezvous for
the plains. The freight will be from
$8 to $12 per wagon, according to
t he distance and stage of water. Cat-
tle will be from $50 to $80 per yoke.
Companies of saints generally appoint
gool, faithful, trusty agents, to whom
they entrust their funds and send them
on, some few weeks in advance, to
purchase cattle and drive them to the
point where they are wanted, at some
definite specified time, agreed upon by
the company.
What quantity of provisions are
required for the outfit?
About 200 lbs. to each individual.
What will be the cost of freight
from St. Louis up the Missouri river ?
From $1 to $2 per hundred.
At what time will the companies
leave the settlements ?
They will begin to leave about the
middle of May. or as soon as the
grass is up sufficiently to sustain their
animals ; and they will continue to
leave every few days from that time
until about the 1st of July.
What time is required for ox teams
to perform the journey ?
From twelve to fifteen weeks.
What amount of team is required
per ton ?
Two yoke of oxen and one yoke
of cows : some go with less.
Those who are not able to furnish
wagons sufficient to accommodate
their families for lodging, should
supply themselves with tents at St.
Louis.
What is the cost of freight from St.
Louis to Salt Lake city ?
From $12 to $14 per hundred.
REPENTANCE.
BY THE EDITOR.
( Continued.)
But how is it with this generation, the present. The spirit prevails among
in regard to making and loving lies ? all classes, both the high and the low,
It is doubtful whether there ever were ' the infidel and the professed Christian ;
a generation so addicted to lying as I all, with very few exceptions, are
234
REPENTANCE.
given, either to make lies, or love
them after they are made. When God
sent a great prophet to this generation
to reveal to them the Book of Mor-
mon, as the great and last warning
message, preparatory to the revelation
of his Son from the heavens to exe-
cute vengeance upon the wicked and
ungodly, how was the message
treated ? We reply that the people
began immediately to lie about it ; and
they have kept up this lying from that,
time until the present. One would
declare that the Book of Mormon was
originated in one way ; another, in
another; one making this lie, and
another that ; and the printing press
has groaned under the weight of false-
hood, published to prevent the people
from repenting according to the re-
quirements of this message. Pamph-
lets have followed pamphlets, and vol-
umes have succeeded volumes to blind
the minds of the people, and harden
their hearts against the only message
by which they can possibly be saved,
either in this world, or in the world
to come. Two of the most powerful
engines that the father of lies has used
to circulate these falsehoods, are the
priests and editors. These have greed-
ily snatched up falsehoods of every
description, and of the blackest char-
acter, and multiplied millions on mil-
1 ons of copies and sent them with
the rapidity of the steam car to the
four winds of heaven : while the long-
faced and professedly pious priests
have reiterated these lies from the pul-
pit, and warned their congregations
with many pious groans and hypocrit-
ical tears to beware of the Book of
Mormon, and to reject it without any
investigation, and to cast out the ser-
vants of God from their houses, and
not listen to them for a moment, but
reject them as imposters, untried and
unproved. These lies have had their
desired effect, to shut up churches
and meeting-houses, and close the
doors and hearts of the people against
God's servants, and the great message
of repentance which God has sent
them to proclaim. In this thing the
" father of lies" is made glad, and the
hosts of darkness rejoice with a hell-
ish exultation, in the prospects of
reaping an abundant harvest of souls,
whom they have deceived by their
lies, and whom their priests have de-
luded by their hypocrisy.
The persons who invented these
lies against the servants of God, and
against the divine message of repent-
ance, contained in the Book of Mor-
mon, are not the only ones who
are guilty ; they are not the only ones
who will be punished in the lake of
fire as liars ; but all who have pub-
lished these lies, and all who have
loved to read and hear them, will share
the same fate. The lover of lies is
equally as guilty as the maker ; hence,
they both go to the same place, and
both suffer the second death, unless
they repent.
It is a fearful thing to reject a
prophet of God, or a servant of God,
or a revelation of God ; and especially
to reject a message, so infinitely im-
portant as the one which God has
given in the Book of Mormon : and
the devil knows that he is sure of the
people if he can only make them re-
ject it ; and hence his untiring exer-
tions in the invention of all manner
of falsehoods to accomplish his ma-
licious and hellish object.
But, it may be inquired, how are
the humble, honest souls to discern
between truth and falsehood ? Must
they be condemned with liars, because
they are deceived with lies ? We
answer, that all will be condemned
who sutler themselves to be deceived :
for there is a way for every person to
come to the light of truth ; and it is
not in the power of the devil to in-
vent lies so plausible as to prevent the
really honest person from discover-
ing the truth that pertains to his sal-
vation. The scriptures have expressly
declared, that "cursed is he that
putteth his trust in man or niaketh
flesh his arm." Now any person who
will put his confidence and trust in
popular lies, invented by the devil to
prevent the people from discovering
the truth, must rest under that curse,
and in the day of judgment be con-
demned with liars. What excuse can
any one have for rejecting the truth,
REPENTANCE.
235
because the tlevil has made lies, and
neatly all mankind believe them ? The
scriptures inform us that we are to
" prove all things and hold fast that
which is good." There must be some
infallible rule by which to prove things
and discern the good from the evil, or
else we never should have been ex-
horted to do so. This infallible test
by which to discover the truth, is the
light which God has already given us,
and which He will give us if we will
but properly seek after it. But when
a person suffers himself to be blinded
by the lies of uninspired men, so far
as to close his doors and his heart
against investigation, and rejects the
message of heaven in the Book of
Mormon upon popular rumor, or be-
cause his minister rejects it, he is
justly condemned for suffering him-
self to be thus imposed upon, and led
about by the precepts of those who
he knows do not even profess to be
inspired of God. He is putting his
trust in man and making flesh his
arm, the moment that he suffers others
to judge for him in matters so infi-
nitely important, involving the salva-
tion of his soul : therefore, he is
cursed of God, and will die and go to
hell, unless he repents, notwithstand-
ing his apparent honesty. Therefore,
no man, nor woman, nor child that
has come to the years of accounta-
bility, can be justified, for one mo-
ment, in rejecting God's revealed will,
contained in the Book of Mormon,
and especially if they never have
placed themselves in a position to in-
vestigate those divine truths.
But, replies one, many tens of
thousands in the United States know
nothing of the contents of that Book,
having never seen it, and all that they
have heard is, that it professes to be
a divine revelation ; are they, there-
fore to be condemned in their ignor-
ance ? We answer, that they have
not the least excuse for their ignor-
ance. There is not a person in the
nation but what might have had the
volume, if he had felt disposed to in-
vestigate its divine origin. It is now
nearly twenty-four years since the
book was first published among them ;
and during tins interval, there have
been printing presses enough in ope-
ration to have supplied a copy to every
individual in all the world. Aud if
they had been called for, they would
have been supplied at a moderate
price. Therefore, those who have
not supplied themselves with a copy,
and have not put themselves in a way
to prove the divinity of the message,
have no excuse for their ignorance.
The lies that are in circulation against
God's holy word, revealed in these
last days, will not shield them from
the justice of the Almighty in the
great day of the Lord which is fast
hastening. If they had loved the
truth, as much as they have loved the
lies against it, they would have sought
after it and used a little exertion to
obtain it. But no, the truth is far
from them, and they love the precepts
of uninspired men in preference to that
which comes from heaven. "They
have made lies their refuge and under
falsehood have hid themselves;" there-
fore, they shall receive the portion of
liars in the great judgment, and with
them be cast into the same lake, un-
less they repent.
But it will be a very difficult mat-
ter for some of those who have pub-
lished lies to repent. For instance,
many editors of newspapers have been
instruments in the hands of the devil
of publishing a vast amount of the
blackest kind of falsehoods against
the truth, and against the few honest,
humble souls who have received it.
By the wholesale circulation of these
falsehoods, they have stirred up the
people to mobs and riots, and to shed
the blood of the innocent. Though
it might be within their power to re-
pent and make restitution in part, yet
they never could counteract fully the
vast amount of injury which they
have done. They might use their pa-
pers as extensively in publishing the
truths of the Book of Mormon, as
they have in publishing lies against it
and the Saints, and thus endeavor to
counteract the evils that they have
done; but they can never recall the
innocent from their graves whom they
have been indirectly the cruel instru-
236
REPENTANCE.
ments of having murdered, by the
wicked and malicious lies which they
have so extensively circulated. Such,
therefore, will find it hard 4to repent ;
yet, even these may have been, in
some instances, swayed by popular
prejudices, and led to do many things
in their ignorance against the truth,
against God, and against his people,
of which, it may be possible, as in
the case of Paul, for them to obtain
forgiveness and salvation by receiving
the truth, and hereafter devoting all
their energies to print, and publish,
and spread forth the same. But do
what they may to recover themselves,
and make restitution, they will always
have it to regret, that they have ever
written or printed any thing against so
great and glorious a message as the
one revealed in the opening of this
last dispensation. But if we could
see any symptoms of repentance and
reformation on their part, we would
gladly take them by the hand, and try
to raise them up, and encourage them
in the mighty struggle to recover
themselves from the great and multi-
plied evils that they have done through
the medium of the press.
What evils lies have done in our
world ! It was through the lies of
the Devil that our first parents were
persuaded to partake of the forbidden
fruit ; it was through the lies invented
by the wicked that the holy prophets
were rejected by the respective gene-
rations to whom they were sent.
Hence our Saviour says to his disci-
ples, " Blessed are ye when men
shall speak all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake ; for so did
they of the prophets who were before
you." All prophets and inspired men
were lied about, and the people were
persuaded through these lies to reject
the only means of their salvation. It
was through liars and false witnesses
that the Saviour of the world was
condemned to be crucified ; it was
through the testimony of false wit-
nesses that the Jews have, from gen-
eration to generation, continued to
reject Jesus of Nazareth as the true
Messiah ; it was through lying that
they were persuaded to believe that
his disciples came and stole his body
from the tomb. Through lies mil-
lions at the present day believe that
the great Prophet of God, Joseph
Smith, was an imposter. Through
the belief of lies millions in ancient
times were destroyed from the earth
and sent down to hell ; and through
the reliance which this generation
place in newspaper reports, and the
lies invented against the Book of
Mormon and the Saints, millions
more will be swept off, and their por-
tion assigned them in the " lake which
burnetii with fire and brimestone, "
in company with ancient liars and
those who loved the same.
Some lies are much more wicked
than others, and calculated to do in-
finitely more harm. To lie for the
purpose of cheating your neighbor —
to lie so as to injure the character of
any one — to lie for the purpose of
punishing the innocent, or screening
the guilty, are very great evils. But
when compared with lies against a
divine message sent from heaven, they
dwindle into insignificancy. In the
former cases, the lies are against
men ; in the latter they are against
God. In the former they injure their
neighbor temporally ; in the latter
they injure him spiritually by blinding
his mind against the truth, and that
too, against the only truth by which
he can be saved. Lies, therefore,
against a revelation which God gives
for the salvation of a generation, will
be considered in the day of judgment
as an evil of very great magnitude,
and the punishment will be in pro-
portion.
We have now pointed out three
very great evils of which this nation
in particular are very guilty before
God. These evils are, first, the mur-
der of the prophets and saints of God,
and the sanctioning of the same, by
letting the murderers go unpunished,
and permitting them to boast of their
bloody deeds in the most public man-
ner. Second, the hundreds of thous-
ands of public prostitutes, which they
permit to commit crimes of the most
abominable nature, in all the large
cities and towns throughout the land,
REPENTANCE.
237
without taking efficient measures by
legislative action to suppress them.
And, third, the great sin of lying
against what God has revealed in the
Book of Mormon for the salvation of
the nations, to prepare them for the
coming of his Son. These are three
of the most prominent evils of which
this nation must most heartily repent,
if they would escape the threatened
evils with which they will otherwise
most assuredly be visited.
Another evil of no small magnitude
is the vast amount of false doctrines
which are taught, and extensively
believed, and practiced throughout
Christendom. Doctrines which are
calculated to ruin the soul, are, in
some respects, greater evils than those
which merely have a bearing upon
our temporal interests. A man who,
through dishonesty, defrauds his
neighbor of his property, and brings
distress and temporal ruin upon his
family, is exceedingly guilty before
God, and will, if he repent not and
make no restitution, be severely pun-
ished ; but how much greater will be
the condemnation and punishment of
that man who, through his cunning
craftiness, palms upon his neighbor a
false doctrine which is calculated to
ruin him and his family, not tempor-
ally, but eternally ! Thieves and
robbers are less guilty before God
than such false teachers.
We will now mention some of
these soul-destroying doctrines that
are taught in Christendom, and which
millions have had the wickedness to
believe. First. These false teachers
have had the presumption to deny the
necessity of continued revelation from
God, and have actually, in direct
opposition to the Bible, persuaded
whole nations to believe in this ruin-
ous and impious doctrine. The great
wickedness of this doctrine will ap-
pear when we reflect that it strikes a
deadly blow against Christianity and
against the religion of the Bible.
This fearful delusion was invented
soon after the apostles fell asleep by
a set of corrupt, vile apostates, who
had so far departed from God that
they could not get any communica-
tion from Him ; and fearing that the
more honest portions of mankind
would discover a great contrast be-
tween their apostate condition and
the condition of the true Church,
which was always, without one ex-
ception, blessed with prophets and in-
spired men, they concluded to use all
their sophistry and cunning to per-
suade the people that they already
had enough revelation, and that they
needed no further communication
from heaven. If they could only get
the people to believe this strong de-
lusion, they knew that it would most
effectually blind them in regard to
iheir apostacy. They at length suc-
ceeded, though not without a great
struggle of conscience among the
more honest portions of the people.
These could not so readily yield con-
sent to so strange and unheard of
doctrine. They looked back through
the whole history of the dealings of
God with his people, from the time
that man was created to their day ;
and they could not discover one sol-
itary instance of a true people of God,
but what they had continued revela-
tions from Him ; and those who did
not have these blessings were de-
nounced as heathens, or in a state
of apostacy. They were expressly
told in their scriptures, that u where
there is no vision the people perish. "
It, therefore, required no small exer-
tion on the part of these wicked apos-
tates to introduce, and get the people
to believe in a doctrine so entirely
new and strange, and so directly op-
posed to the whole tenor of divine
revelation. But finally, through the
help of the Devil, and after a long
struggle, during which scores of
thousands were tortured and put to
death, they succeeded so far as to
make an ecclesiastical law, not only
positively excluding all further reve-
lation, but actually limiting the faith
of their apostate clan to a certain
number of books, called, by them,
" Canonical. " This took place at
the Third Council of Carthage in the
year 397. All were forbidden to re-
ceive any thing as the word of God
only the few canonical manuscripts
238
REPENTANCE.
which this apostate council had se-
lected. This fatal law had ils desired
effect, in entailing- upon posterity the
soul-destroying delusion that God
would no more speak with mortals.
This great imposition has been trans-
fered down to our time, and is exten-
sively taught through all the nations
of Christendom.
If this delusion was confined to
some obscure corner of the earth
among unlettered barbarians, it would
not be so fearful in its consequences,
but to be embraced by millions of the
most civilized people of our globe,
and that, too, in direct defiance of the
Bible, renders it vastly more offensive
in the sight of God. It is calculated
to destroy millions on millions of
souls ; for who, with the Bible in
their hands, can expect to be saved,
if they suffer themselves to believe or
harbor such a wicked doetrine in their
hearts ? Do you expect that God
will save you when you have the
rashness to declare that you have no
need of prophets and revelators — that
you have enough of the word of God
already? You cannot plead ignor-
ance, like many hundreds of millions
who have died in past, ages who were
never favored with the privilege of
reading the Bible. You can have no
excuse because your minister, and
your neighbors, and your fathers,
have taught you this imposition.
You have the Bible, and you can read
and judge for yourselves ; and the
whole tenor of that sacred book will
show you most clearly to the contra-
ry. The Bible will inform you that
so long as the Christian Church was
on the earth they were favored with
continued revelation ; it will tell you
that the Christian Church Avere guided
and led continually by the spirit of
prophecy and revelation — by living
revelators and inspired men. It will
tell you that any thing short of that
order of things is not of God, but of
men. If you will, therefore, by pop-
ular tradition, and through the influ-
ence of your popular false teachers,
suffer yourselves to be imposed upon
by such absurd, unscriptural and anti-
Christian doctrines, you need not
flatter yourselves that you can be
saved ; for God will not save those
who reject the doctrine of continued
revelation. This, therefore, is an-
other great evil of which this genera-
tion are deeply guilty before God ;
and He has called upon them by the
voice of his servants, and by the voice
of revelation, contained in the Book
of Mormon, to repent of this evil and
give no more heed to false doctrines
of this nature, declaring that all those
who do not repent of these things,
shall be cut off and sent down to
hell.
Another false doctrine taught and
almost universally believed by this
wicked generation is, that it is no
longer the privilege of believers to re-
ceive the miraculous signs promised
to them in the Scriptures. For in-
stance, Jesus informs us in the most
express terms, as recorded in the last
chapter of Mark, and in many other
Scriptures, that certain miraculous
gifts should be given to believers
throughout all the world, wherever
and to whomsoever the Gospel should
be preached, and be believed and
obeyed. And lest some wicked apos-
tate or false teacher should undertake
to limit the signs to the believers in
the first aire of Christianity, he most
emphatically declares that " EVERY
CREATURE" in all the world who
should believe the Gospel and be bap-
tized, should not only be saved, but
that all such should have power
in his name to "cast out devils" —
"speak with new tongues" — "take
up serpents" — and deadly poisons
should not hurt them — and they
should " lay hands upon the sick,
and they should recover." Now,
who could have believed that genera-
tions of professed Christians would
arise, who, with the Bible in their
hand, would have the bold, unblush-
ing impudence, to declare that the
believer has no right to claim this
promise of our Lord ? Only think,
dear reader, of the millions of pro-
fessed believers in the Gospel, who
crowd the streets on the Sabbath day
to go to their respective places of
worship, and yet not one of them
REPENTANCE
239
throughout the congregated millions
that even profess to claim the promise
of Jesus in regard to the Gospel bless-
ings : they call themselves believers,
and yet they have not the signs of
believers — they profess that Jesus is
their Saviour, and yet every soul of
them rejects his word in relation to
the promised signs : they are very
willing to claim one of the promises
irt the same connection with these
signs, viz : Salvation ; but the other
promises spoken by the same Being,
and on the same occasion, are utterly
rejected ; and if any honest, humble
soul among them should begin to
seek after the promised signs and ex-
hort his brethren to do the same, he
would immediately be denounced as
an enthusiast, or as insane ; and if he
persisted in so doing, he would be ex-
cluded from their ranks and expelled
from their synagogues as a dangerous
person. Now what will become of
all these false teachers who thus do
away with the promises of Jesus ?
and what will become of the people
who suffer themselves to be led by
such hypocrites ? They will, every
soul of them, unless they repent of
these false doctrines, be cast down
to hell. Yes, every man and wo-
man, priest and people, that do not
repent of having done away the mirac-
ulous gifts and blessings of the Gos-
pel, will just as surely go to hell as
they are living beings. Do not flat-
ter yourselves that you will escape ;
for there is no escape for you, only to
repent and turn unto the Lord, and
seek most earnestly after the mirac-
ulous gifts of the Gospel which you,
and your false teachers, in your wick-
edness and hypocricy, have done
away. Think not that you can follow
the popular multitude in their forms
of godliness, and with them deny the
power thereof, and escape the right-
eous indignation of that holy Being
whose words you have rejected. By
His words that you have had in this
life, you are to be judged in the last
day ; if you have received and obeyed
them, well ; if not, they will condemn
you, and you will shrink from the
presence of Him who gave the word,
and your guilty consciences will be
racked with fear and pain ; and the
miseri s of hell will lay hold upon
you; and you will be made to feel
that God's holy word is not spoken
in vain, and that it cannot be rejected
with impunity.
Another very prevalent and great
evil is in the land. Many thousands
of these corrupt false teachers who
have denied the necessity of the mi-
raculous powers and gifts of the Gos-
pel, and who have done away the
gifts of prophecy and revelation from
the church, have even dared to ven-
ture forward and officiate in some of
the Gospel ordinances, as though they
actually had authority from God ; and
many thousands have actually pre-
sumed to receive the holy sacred or-
dinances of the Gospel from the
hands of such corrupt, soul-destroy-
ing hypocrites. If there is any wick-
edness that borders closely on blas-
phemy, it is this! What can be more
impious in the sight of heaven, than
for men to do away, as unnecessary,
nearly all of the most glorious gifts
of the Gospel, and preach to their
hearers that they are unnecessary in
these days, and then have the auda-
cious wickedness to minister the holy
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or
pretend to baptize by the authority
and in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. Such heaven-daring
wickedness is calculated to sink these
vile imposters to the lowest hell. And
unless the people repent of having re-
ceived baptism and other ordinances
of the Gospel at the hands of such
deceivers, they will be sent to hell
I with them; for if the blind lead the
blind, they will all go into the ditch
together, and the deceived, as well as
the deceiver, will all have to reap the
reward of their own corrupt doings.
I know that the people will be
angry with me, and hate me, because
I tell them of their wickedness thus
plainly. But I have not been sent to
flatter this generation with smooth
things, nor to tell them that all is well ;
but I have been sent to set forth your
sins and your abominations, and all
your evil works which you continu-
240
REPENTANCE.
ally practice before the Almighty in
clearness before your minds, and to
call upon you in the name of Him
who sent me, to repent of the same
and turn unto the Lord, and embrace
the fulness of the Gospel which God
has revealed anew in the Book of
Mormon, or every one of you will,
most assuredly, be damned. It mat-
ters not to me whether I please or dis-
please you — whether 1 receive your
good will, or incur your biiter hatred,
my only object is to do the will of
Him who has sent me, and to faith-
fully discharge my duty towards you.
You were once a very different
people from what you are now. When
your pilgrim fathers fled from the per-
secutions of the old world and braved
the dangers and hardships, incident to
the settlement of this lovely country,
they were a humble, honest people,
who worshipped the Lord their God
according to the best of their knowl-
edge ; and the Lord was with them,
and destroyed the savages from before
their face ; and when the arm of the
mother country was stretched out to
oppress and destroy, He raised up sa
viours and delivered them from the
power of all their enemies. More-
over, He made them a great people,
and strong, and independent of all
nations. He established peace within
the land, and their children have mul-
tiplied, and you have become one of
the most powerful nations upon the
earth. Y our granaries and your store-
houses have overflowed with the rich
products and delicacies of the earth.
The mountains, and hills, and dales,
have been covered with the abundance
of your flocks and herds, while your
merchants have waxed rich in the ex-
tent of their trade, both by land
and sea; the rich treasures of the
earth have disclosed themselves,
and blessings without number, have
been multiplied upon you. But
you have forgotten the Lord God
whom your pilgrim fathers wor-
shipped ; you have become proud and
haughty in your bearing •, you despise
the meekness and humility of the
Christian's life. You remember not
that it is God who has bestowed up-
on you all that you enjoy. You
think that you can do what you
please, and all will continue to be
well. But as God has exalted you
on high above all nations, if you re-
pent not speedily, He will bring you
very low ; and the great blessings you
now enjoy shall be taken from you,
and your cities shall be left unto you
desolate, and your beautiful habita-
tions shall be deserted, and death and
mourning shall be heard throughout
the land.
( To be continued.)
CONTENTS:
Fowers of Nature, 225
Explanation of Substituted Names in the Covenants, 227
St. Louis Conference Minutes, 230
Editorial —Perpetual Emigrating Fund — Tithing— Emigration to Uiah 231
Repentance -* 233
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY ORSON PRATT.
Jil $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
THE
OHUfaKa
All ye inhabitants of the world, ami dwpllcrs on the earth, See Ye. when He
lifteth up an Unsign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. II.
APRIL, 1854
No. 4.
WAR.
A REVELATION AND PROPHECY BY THE PROPHET, SEER, AND
REVELATOR, JOSEPH SMITH.
GIVEN DECEMBER 25th, 1832.
Verily thus saith the Lord, con-
cerning the wars that will shortly come
to pass, beginning at the rebel-
lion of South Carolina, which will
eventually terminate in the death and
misery of many souls. The days
will come that war will be poured out
upon all nations, beginning at that
place; for behold, the Southern
States shall be divided against the
Northern States; and the Southern
States will call on other nations, even
the nation of Great Britain, as it is
called, and they shall also call upon
other nations in order to defend them-
selves against other nations ; and thus,
war shall be poured out upon all
nations. And it shall come to pass,
after many days, slaves shall rise up
against their Masters, who shall be
marshalled and disciplined for war. —
And it shall come to pass also, that
the remnants who are left of the land
will marshal themselves, and shall be-
come exceeding angry, and shall vex
the Gentiles with a sore vexation. —
And thus, with the sword, and by
bloodshed, the inhabitants of the earth
shall mourn ; and with famine, and
plague, and earthquakes, and the
thunder of heaven, and the fierce and
vivid lightning also, shall the inhab-
itants of the earth be made to feel
ipe wrath, and indignation, and chas-
tening hand of an Almighty God, until
the consumption, decreed, hath made
a full end of all nations; that the cry
of the Saints, and of the blood of
Saints, shall cease to come up into
the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from
the earth, to be avenged of their ene-
mies. Wherefore, stand ye in holy
places, and be not moved, until the
day of the Lord come; for behold it
cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen.
(Pearl of Great Price, page 35.)
The above revelation was given
twenty-one years ago last Christmas.
We learn by this, some particulars in
regard to the nature of that universal
war which is soon to deluge all the
nations and kingdoms of the earth. —
The first indication of this fearful ca-
lamity was to begin in the rebellion
of South Carolina. The revelation
does not inform us that the first symp-
tom of this rebellion would exhibit
any thing very alarming in its appear-
ance, but says, that it ^will eventual-
ly terminate in the death and misery
of many souls?'' "Eventually " (not
directly or immediately,) should the
rebellion of that State lead on to a
war more general in its nature, in-
volving the whole nation in a fearful
revolution resulting, not in the loss of
a few, but in the "death and misery of
many souls."
242
WAR.
The revelation does not inform us
of the particulars of this general war,
but shows, in very few words, the
order in which it would spread ;
First, South Carolina should rebel;
second, "the Southern Slates" should
"be divided against the Northern
States;" third, the Southern States
should call on Great Britain for help :
and fourth, Great Britain should call
on "other nations in order to defend
themselves against other nations."
It seems from this, that Great Britain
will already be at war with some na-
tions at the time the South will ap-
peal to her for assistance ; for she
will be obliged to seek assistance to
defend herself from other nations. —
Whether Great Britain, under such
critical circumstances, will render aid
to the South, is not staled. She will,
perhaps, in order to secure commer-
cial advantages favour the South ; this
will enable the latter to compete
with the superior numbers of the
North, and prolong the war, until, as
the revelation states, it results in the
destruction of many souls -
During this fearful revolutionary
struggle between the South and the
North, it seems that the South will
marshal and discipline their slaves
for war.
From this, it is quite evident, that the
South will consider themselves hard-
ily competent to withstand the force
of the North without bringing into
requisition the strength of the slave.
However much assistance this may
for awhile render to the South, it is
certain, according to the revelation,
that this strength will fail them : for,
saith the Lord, "And it shall come
to pass after many days, slaves shall
rise up against their masters." From
the expression, ^afier many days"
we are led to conclude that the ca-
lamity, arising from the rebellion of
the Slaves, will not take place, until
the nation has, by its previous strug-
gles been reduced to great weakness.
To add to the sufferings and great
calamities of the nation, they will be
greatly distressed by the aborigines,
who "will marshal themselves and
become exceeding angry" and vex
them "with a sore vexation." We
are inclined to believe that this will
not take place until millions of the
nation have already perished in their
own revolutionary battles. To what
extent the Indians will have power
over the nation is not stated in this
revelation ; but from what Jesus in-
formed their forefathers at the time of
his personal ministry among them, as
recorded in the Book of Mormon, they
will have power in a great measure
over the whole nation. In speaking
upon this subject, Jesus prophesies as
follows : —
" Therefore, it shall come to pass,
that whosoever will not believe in my
words, who am Jesus Christ, which
the Father shall cause him'' (Joseph
Smith) "to bring forth unto the Gen-
tiles, and shall give unto him power
that he shall bring them forth unto
the Gentiles, it shall be done even as
Moses said, they shall be cut off from
among my people who are of the cove-
nant; and my people who are a remnant
of Jacob, shall be among the Gentiles,
yea, in the midst of them as a lion
among the beasts of the forest, as a
young lion among the flocks of sheep,
who. if he go through, both treadeth
down and teareth in pieces, and none
can deliver. Their hand shall be
lifted up upon their adversaries, and
all their enemies shall be cut off'. —
Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles, except
they repent, for it shall come to pass
in that day, saith the Father, that I
will cut off thy horses out of the
midst of thee, and I will destroy thy
chariots, and I will cut oft' the cities
of thy land, and throw down all thy
strongholds; and I will cut off* witch-
crafts out of thy land, and thou shalt
have no more soothsayers; thy gra-
ven images I will also cut off", and thy
standing images out of the midst of
thee, and thou shalt no more worship
the works of thy hands; and I will
pluck up thy groves out of the midst
of thee ; so will I destroy thy cities. — ■
And it shall come to pass that all ly-
ings, and deceivings, and envyings,
and strifes, and priestcrafts, and
whoredoms, shall be done away. —
For it shall come to pass, saith the
WAR.
243
Father, that at that day whosoever
will not repent and come unto my be-
loved Son, them will I cut off from
among my people, O house of Israel ;
and I will execute vengeance and fury
upon them, even as upon the heath-
en, such as they have not heard."
(Book ofNephi9 : 12.)
From this prophecy of our Sa-
viour it will be seen that the aborigi
put up unto Him for them. And then,
O ye Gentiles," (meaning the people
of the United States,) "how can ye
stand before the power of God, except
ye shall repent and turn from your
evil ways ! Know ye not that ye are
in the hands of God ? know ye not
that He hath all power, and at Hia
great command the earth shall be rolled
together as a scroll ? Therefore re-
nes or remnants of Jacob will pre- i pent ye, and humble yourselves be-
vail against the nation, even as a lion fore Him, lest he shall come out in
prevails against the beasts of the for 'justice against you ; lest a remnant of
est. Naturally speaking, this could
not take place, unless the nation were
first greatly weakened by former
judgments, or unless God should so
ordain, and suffer them to be over-
come by their enemies. That God
the seed of Jacob shall go forth amon^
you as a lion, and tear you in pieces,
and there is none to deliver." (Book
of Mormon, 2 : 6.)
Before the Lord would suffer the
remnant of Jacob or the Indians to
himself will fight for the remnant of ; fall upon the Gentiles, He promised
Jacob, is clearly manifest in the fore- | their forefathers that He would bring
going quotation. It is God who is to j forth their sacred records unto the Gen-
cut off the horses, destroy the char- i tiles, that they might have the priv-
iots,cut offthecities,and throw down ! ilege of repenting and of being number-
all the strongholds of the nation : ed with the house of Israel. Jesu?
it is God who is to cut off the graven
and standing images, and pluck up
the pleasant groves, and destroy all
wickedness from the land : it is God
who is to uexecute vengeance and
spake unto their ancestors as follows :
" In the latter day shall the truth
come unto the Gentiles, that the ful-
ness of these things shall be made
known unto them. But wo, saith
fury upon them even as upon the | the Father, unto the unbelieving of
heathen, such as they have not J the Gentiles, for notwithstanding
heard." God will, therefore, he with j they have come forth upon the face
the remnant of Jacob, even as He of this land, and have scattered my
was with their forefathers in the days ; people who are of the house of
of their righteousness : and as He de- j Israel ; and my people who are of the
stroyed the wicked nations from the i house of Israel have been cast out from
land of Canaan, so will He utterly de- j among them, and have been trodden
stroy this nation unless they repent and | under feet by them ; and because of the
obey the word of the Lord revealed j mercies ol the Father unto the Gen-
in the Book of Mormon. tiles, and also the judgments of the
The prophet Mormon, a little less Father upon my people who are of
than fifteen centuries ago, delivers a | the house of Israel ; verily, verily, I
prophecy, concerning this remnant of I say unto you that after all this, and
Jacob and this nation of Gentiles in j I have caused my people who are of
the following words: the house of Israel, to be smitten,
" But behold, it shall come to pass I and to be afflicted, and to be slain,
that they" (the Indians) "shall be | and to be cast out from among them,
driven and scattered by the Gentiles ; and to become hated by them — and to
and after they have been driven and | become a hiss and a bye-word among
scattered by the Gentiles, behold, then them. And thus commandeth the
will the Lord remember the covenant Father that I should say unto you, at
which He made unto Abraham, and that day, when the Gentiles shall sin
unto all the house of Israel. And also
the Lord will remember the prayers
of the righteous, which have been
against my gospel," (meaning then-
rejection oi'the book of Mormon,) "and
shall be lifted up in the pride of their
244
WAR.
hearts above all nations, and above all
the people of the whole earth, and shall
be filled with all manner of lyings, and
of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all
manner of hypocrisy, and murders,
and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, .and
of secret abominations; and if they shall
do all those things, and shall reject
the fulness of my gospel, behold
saith the Father, I will bring the ful-
ness of my gospel from among them ,
and then, I will remember my cove-
nant which I have made unto my peo-
ple, O house of Israel, and I will
bring my gospel unto them ; and I
will show unto thee, O house of Is-
rael, that the Gentiles shall not have
power over you; but I will remem-
ber my covenant unto you,0 house of
Israel, and ye shall come unto the
knowledge of the fulness of my gos-
pel. But if the Gentiles will repent,
and return unto me, saith the Father,
behold, they shall be numbered
among my people, O house of Israel :
and 1 will not suffer my people, who
are of the house of Israel, to go through
among them, and tread them down,
saith the Father. But if they will not
turn unto me, and hearken unto my
voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will
suffer my people, O house of Israel,
that thev shall go through among
them, and shall tread them down, and
they shall be as salt that hath lost its
savor, wh:ch is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot of my people, O
house of Israel." (Book ofNephi 7: 4.)
It is evident from the foregoing that
before the Indian are suffered to have
complete power over this nation, God
will thoroughly warn them through
the medium of His word in the
book of Mormon, which, if they re-
ject, will ripen them for the threaten-
ed judgments; hut first the Lord
will bring the fulness of His gospel
from among the nation, delivering
them over, because of their wicked-
ness, to hardness of heart and blind-
ness of mind, that He may execute
vengeance and fury upon them. Jesus
more fully describes this calamity on
another occasion, as follows :
"And the Father hath commanded
me, that I should give unto you this
land for your inheritance. And I say
unto you, that if the Gentiles do
not repent, after the blessing which
they shall receive," (meaning the
blessing of the Book of Mormon,)
" after they have scattered my people,
then shall ye who are a remnant of
the house of Jacob, go forth among
them ; and ye shall be in the midst of
them, who shall be many ; and ye
shall be among them, as a lionamonij
the beasts of the forest, and as ayoung
lion among the flocks of sheep, who,
if he goeth through, both treadeth
down and teareth in pieces, and
none can deliver. Thy hand shall
be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and
all thine enemies shall be cut off. —
And I will gather my people to-
gether, as a man gatherethhls sheaves
into the floor, for I will make my
people with whom the Father hath
covenanted, yea, 1 will make thy
horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs
brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces
many people ; and I will consecrate
their gain unto the Lord, and their
substance unto the Lord of the whole
earth. And behold, I am He who
doeth it. And it shall come to pass,
saith the Father, that the sword of
my justice shall hang over them at
that day ; and except they repent, it
shall fall upon them, saith the Fath-
er, yea, even upon all the nations ol
the Gentiles." (Book of Nephi, 9:
8 and 9.)
This last quotation shows most
clearly that it is God who will,
through the instrumentality of this
remnant of Jacob, bring this nation
down ; and because God is against
them "none can deliver them" out of
His hands, or out of the hands of the
aborigines who are of the house of
Israel : they will beat in pieces many
people, and there will be no power in
the Gentdes to stand before them, be-
cause they have sinned against God
in rejecting His word which He has
taken so much pains to preserve and
bring forth unto them : But. they
treat it as a thing of naught, and de-
spise the same ; therefore shall they
be treated as naught,and trodden down
WAR.
245
by the house of Israel even as nations
of old. Say not in your hearts that you
are strong, and that these calamities
will not. come upon you; for though
you increase your strength an hun-
dred fold, and fortify yourselves with
walls and gigantic towers ; and by
your wisdom invent engines of de-
struction that will cause the nations to
tremble, yet you shall be as naught
before the power of the Almighty,
and your strong-holds shall be thrown
down, as were the walls of Jericho,
and you shall fall a prey to the de-
vouring sword, and your carcases shall
moulder away upon the face of the
land, and your flesh shall become
meat for the dogs and for the ravenous
birds of the air ; and there shall be
none left to blaspheme against the
Holy One of Israel, or to fight against
His holy word upon all the face of
this land. For this is a choice land,
and it must be redeemed from the
hand of wickedness, that the righteous
may dwell thereon for ever, and rejoice
in the fulness of the blessings thereof.
The day is at hand when the Lord
will visit all the nations of the earth
with a proclamation of repentance
and mercy, and blessed are that peo-
ple, nation, or tongue who know the
joyful sound ; but wo unto that peo-
ple who hearken not unto the voice
of the Lord, neither unto the voice
of his servants ; for the Lord has a
consumption decreed upon all the
face of the earth, and all flesh shall
come in remembrance before Him to
rentier unto them according to their
works ; to redeem the whole earth
from wickedness, and to make a full
end of all nations who will not be-
come subject to His laws. Where-
fore nation shall war against nation
and kingdom against kingdom, and
the slain of the Lord shall be many.
In regard to the wars of the latter
days, the vision of Nephi, seen about
six hundred years before Christ, is
highly instructive. We quote the
following :
" And it came to pass that the an-
gel spake unto me, Nephi, saying,
thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles
repent, it shall be well with them ; and
thou also knowest concerning the
covenants of the Lord, unto the
house of Israel ; and thou also hast
heard, that whoso repenteth not, must
perish ; therefore, wo be unto the
Gentiles, if it so be that they harden
their hearts against the Lamb of God,
for the time cometh, saith the Lamb
of God, that I will work a great and a
marvellous work among the children
of men; a work which shall be ev-
erlasting, either on the one hand or
on the other : either to the con-
vincing of them unto peace and life
eternal, or unto the deliverance of
them to the hardness of their hearts
and the blindness of their minds un-
to their being brought down into cap-
tivity, and also unto destruction, both
temporally and spiritually, according
to the captivity of the devil, of which
I have spoken. And it came to pass
that when the angel had spoken
these words he said unto me, remem-
berest thou the covenants of the
Father unto the house of Israel ? 1
said unto him, yea. And it came
to. pass that he said unto me, look,
and behold that great and abomi-
nable church, which is the mother of
abominations whose foundation is the
devil. And he said unto me, behold
there are save two churches only;
the one is the church of the Lamb of
God, and the other is the church of
the devil ; wherefore, whoso belong-
eth not to the Church of the Lamb of
God, belongeth to that great church,
which is the mother of abominations;
and she is the whore of all the earth.
" And it came to pass that I looked
and beheld the whore of all the earth,
and she sat upon many waters ; and
she had dominion over all the earth,
among all nations, kindreds, tongues,
and people.
"And it came to pass that I beheld
the Church of the Lamb of God, and
its numbers were few, because of the
wickedness and abominations of the
whore who sat upon many waters ;
nevertheless, I beheld that the Church
of ihe Lamb, who were the Saints of
God, were also upon all the face of
the earth; and their dominions upon
the face of the earth were small, be-
246
WAR.
cause of the wickedness of the great
whore whom I saw.
" And it came to pass that 1 beheld
that the great mother of abomination
did gather together multitudes upon
the face of all the earth, among all
the nations of the Gentiles, to fight
against the Lamb of God.
" And it came to pass that F, Nephi,
beheld the power of the Lamb of
God, that it descended upon the
Saints of the Church of the Lamb,
and upon the covenant people of the
Lord, who were scattered upon all the
face of the earth •, and they were
armed with righteousness, and with
the power of God in great glory.
" And it came to pass that ] beheld
that the wrath of God was poured out
upon the great and abominable church
insomuch that there were wars and
rumours of wars among all the na-
tions and kindreds of the earth ; and
as there began to be wars and rumours
of wars among all the nations which
belonged to the mother of abomina-
tions, the angel spake unto me, say-
ing, behold, the wrath of God is upon
the mother of harlots ; and behold,
thou seestall these things : and when
ihe day cometh that the wrath of God
is poured out upon the mother of
harlots, which is the great and abom-
inable church of all the earth, whose
foundation is the devil, then, at that
day, the work of the Father shall
commence, in preparing the way for
the fulfilling of his covenants, which
he hath made to His people, who are
of the house of Israel." (First Book
of Nephi, 3: 45—51.)
From this quotation, it will be seen
that there will be wars and rumours
of wars among all the nations of the
Gentiles. Whether the present war
that has commenced between Russia
and Turkey is the one predicted as the
beginning of that more general war in
which all the nations will participate,
is not for us at present, to say; it has
every appearance of becoming gen-
eral, at least, as far as Europe is con-
cerned. The European nations with
the United States come more particu-
larly under the dominion of the "great
and abominable church," which in-
cludes all the churches of apostate
Christendom, both Catholic and Pro-
testant. It is the nations of Christen-
dom that are to be visited with the
heaviest of all judgments*, for not on-
ly will they war among themselves,
but every plague, mentioned in John's
revelations as coming upon great
Babylon, will surely come upon these
apostate christian nations, and they
will gnaw their tongues for pain, and
finally, as one of the last judgments
of a temporal nature, they will be to-
tally destroyed — they and their cities,
by devouring fire. But Oh, what
scenes of wretchedness and misery
await them, before the day of burning
comes ! No tongue can describe
the fearful desolating judgments that
will sweep through the laud ; but
yet, they will not repent, for their
day of erace will then be past, and
they will be sealed over unto the
judgments written; therefore, in the
depths of their miseries, they will lift
up their voices and curse God who
has power over these plagues.
In order that God may punish
these nations and utterly overthrow
them, he is calling upon his people
to come out from them and flee far
away, and hide themselves in the
chambers of the mountains, and pu-
rify themselves before the Lord, lest
they also perish in Babylon ; for the
Lord hath decreed that he will spare
none that remain in Babylon. Let
the Saints remember, that the Lord
hath said, that the people of Zion are
to be the only people upon the face
of the whole earth but what shall be
at war one with another. They alone
will escape if they observe diligently
all the commandments of the Lord in
the Book of Mormon and in the oth-
er revelations which God has given
or shall hereafter give; but if not,
they will in no wise escape; for the
Lord will chasten the Saints until
they will learn to live by every word
that proceedeth forth from His mouth.
Those who call themselves Latter-
day Saints are no more precious in the
sight of God than other people, un-
less they do better than others. In-
deed, the greater the light against
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE APPOINTMENT.
247
which the Saints sin, the greater and
more severe must be their judgment,
unless they repent, therefore, let us
fear before the Lord, and tremble ex-
ceedingly, if we have any of us sinned;
let us go before Him and confess
our faults, and seek mercies and for-
giveness at His hands ; let us put
away every evil, and strive most earn-
estly to give heed to the word of
truth : for how can we stand before
Him unless we do this ! The great
and terrible day of the Lord is at
hand, and all nations shall fear and
tremble exceedingly ; but if the Saints
are prepared, it shall be a day of re-
joicing and of great glory to them ;
it shall be the day of their redemption,
and the commencement of a glorious
reign of which there shall be no end.
Editor.
> •*$*• «
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
Honolulu, Sandwich Islands,
Nov. 18, 1853.
Dear Brother O. Pratt,
I take the earliest opportunity to
acknowledge your kindness in for-
warding me the Seer. The nine first
Nos. of which have just come to
hand. The perusal of which has
caused our hearts to rejoice. The for-
eign Elders are all anxious to procure
one or more copies of all your publi-
cations in Washington. I send you
the enclosed list of subscription. —
We think the Seer a very valuable
production, and feel that it may do
much good here. The work upon
these Islands is onward. Over three
thousand have been baptized in all ;
and near two thousand of these, have
been baptized since our conference
last April. Although we meet wih
every opposition that priestcraft can
invent ; and in one instance two of
the brethren were severely bruised
and ill-treated by mob violence. —
Besides which we have had many
vexatious law-suits, &c, &c. The
Book of Mormon is translated into
the native tongue, and prepared for
the press. And we are now active-
ly engaged in procuring means to
establish a press to speedily print
that and many other works for this
native people. And we iiope before
our April conference to have it in suc-
cessful operation
We are seeking out a location
suitable to gather this people, that
they may become better prepared for
a general emigration; and also to de-
tach them from the corrupt influence
with which they are continually sur-
rounded. The principles of truth
and virtue are fast increasingamong
the native saints; and many who have
received the priesthood are becoming
powerful auxiliaries in rolling for-
ward the work. Our religion is claim-
ing the attention of many of the high-
est Chiefs or Nobles in the Kingdom;
some of whom have avowed their
belief, and are opening their hearts
to assist in procuring a press and
in granting lands to facilitate the
gathering of the saints here.
The smallpox has done a great
work here, some thousands have been
swept oft', including over two hun-
dred of the saints. There is much
talk of annexation to the United States
of this kingdom, but we think it will
not soon take place.
Believe me ever your Brother in
Christ, B. F. Johnson.
Appointment. — Elder Aaron F.
Farr is appointed to succeed Elder
Horace S. Eldredge in the presidency
of the St. Louis conference. Presi-
dent Eldredge has, so far as we are
acquainted, presidtd over that con-
ference with wisdom, and judgment,
and in righteousness ; but he is called
to return to the valley this season to
attend to other duties that may be as-
signed to him. He will probably
leave in June, and no doubt with the
good feelings, and prayers, and bless-
248
FORMATION OF THE EARTH.
ings of all the saints in that confer-
ence. Elder Eldredge will retain the
Presidency of the conference until
his departure, after which Elder Fair's
appointment will be in force.
We would suggest to Elder Farr
the propriety of proceeding to St.
Louis, as soon as convenient, in or-
der that he may become acquainted,
by confering with Elder Eldredge,
with the nature of the duties assigned
him.
ORSON PRATT,
President of the Saints in the
U S. and British Provinces.
Washington City, D. C, Feb. 20, 1854.
FORMATION OF THE EARTH:
ITS DIVISION INTO ISLANDS AND CONTINENTS ITS RESTORATION TO
ITS ANTEDILUVIAN CONDITION.
BY THE EDITOR.
There has been much speculation
in relation to the ancient condition
of our globe. And from many facts,
connected with the geological forma-
tions of the earth's crust, it ha> been
concluded that the land and water
have more than once changed places.
Upon mountains and high elevations
are frequently found shells and other
remains of marine inhabitants in cir-
cumstances where it would seem to
preclude all possibility of their having
been deposited through human agen-
cy. It seems to be almost certain,
then, that the dry land and even the
highest elevations of our globe, have,
at some former period, been sub-
merged beneath the sea, and have
formed the bed of the ocean.
Many geological speculations have
been put forth to account for the
great changes that have happened in
the surface strata of the earth. But
it is not our intention to examine the
probability or improbability of those
conjectures; but merely to give some
few facts from divine revelation to
show that the present geological con-
ditions of our globe, are not, in their
general characteristics, the result of
slow and gradual change- ; but the ef-
fects of sudden convulsions and catas-
trophes under the control and super-
intendence of that Al-powerful Being
who formed all things.
As the elements of all worlds were
not created, but are eternal, and as
they have always be.n the tabernacle
or dwelling place of God, they must
have eternally been acted upon by
His spirit; consequently must have
passetl through an endless series of
operations without beginning. Instead
of seeking to trace out evidences of a
beginning to the elements, we shall
at once pronounce them eternal from
the fact that we have no account of
their creation from nothing, for God
himself must be an eternal substance :
and it is just as reasonable to believe
that all the other elements which are
His tabernacle, are eternal, as to admit,
as we are compelled to do, the eterni-
ty of His substance.
How many thousands of millions of
times the elements of our globe have
been organized and disorganized ; or
how many millions of shapes or forms
the elements have been thrown into in
their successive organizations and dis-
organizations ; or how widely the par-
tides have been diffused through
boundless space; or how many dif
ferent worlds these particles have, at
one time and another, formed compo-
nent parts ; or how long they have
been parts of the solar system ; or how
long that system itself has formed a
branch of our stellar heavens — is un-
known to us mortals. We can only
go back to the organization of our
present globe — to the time when "the
morning stars sang together and all
the sons of God shouted for joy."
This is only one link in the endless
chain — only one grand event in a se-
FORMATION OF THE EARTH.
249
ries without beginning. But this event
was sudden, not the effects of slow
and imperceptible changes, operating
for an indefini:e number of ages. —
Jehovah spake — the elements came
rushing together, not by their own
power, but under the action of the
self-moving forces of His Spirit, asso-
ciated with the particles to be moved.
That this all-powerful spirit perform-
ed its operations in a definite and fixed
manner, according to certain prescrib-
ed laws, there is no doubt. And if
any of our modern Philosophers had
been present on that grand occasion,
they undoubtedly would have beheld
every particle moving toward the great
common centre with a resultant force,
varying inversely as the square of its
distance from every other particle. —
They would have called it the law of
gravitation : while those better ac-
quainted with the origin of the force
would have called it the law by which
the Spirit of God moves together the
particles of matter.
We are not to suppose that these
elements, before they were collected,
were formed into solid masses of
rocks and other hard substances : and
that these came rushing together —
rocks being piled on rocks, breaking,
crashing, and rending into millions of
fragments. But no doubt through the
operation of antecedent forces, there
had been a complete disorganization
or dissolution of the bodies, composed
of these elements in that prior state of
existence anteiior to the foundation of
the present globe : this being the
case, the elements being separate, and
apart, and widely diffused, were in a
condition to come together in a state
of particles, instead of aggregate mass-
es. These particles, under the law of
force ordained, would collect in the
form of a sphere, arranging themselves
according to their specific gravities in
strata at different distances from the
centre.
If these particles, while collecting
from the surrounding spaces, were un-
der the influence of no foreign forces,
they would form a perfect sphere,
having no tendency to rotate; but if
they were disturbed by their gravita-
tion towards foreign bodies, they
would, at the time of their contact
with the central nucleus, strike the
surface of the same obliquely, which
would give rise to a rotatory move-
ment : and this rotation would change
the form of the nucleus from that of a
sphere to a spheroid ; and the oblate-
ness or eccentricity of the spheroid
would depend upon the final resultant
velocitv of the rotation at the lime
that the particles were all collected.
In the morning of our creation the
gathering together of the particles
was accomplished under such regu-
lar, harmonious and systematic laws,
that there were no elevations of the
land above the water. All the suc-
cessive strata seemed to have ar-
ranged themselves in a perfect spher-
oidal form, conforming to the laws of
gravity and rotation, as if they had
been a fluid substance. So perfect was
this arrangement, that the land was
completely enveloped in a flood of
water: no portion thereof was seen.
But soon the commandment came
for the waters to be gathered together
into one place, and for the dry or solid
land to appear. This great event was
unquestionably brought about under a
system of fixed laws, no less definite
than that of gravitation; but perhaps
not so well comprehended by man.
The Spirit of God in association with
the elements, not only produces all
the phenomena of gravitation, but
also causes the elements to act upon
each other, cohesively and chemical-
ly, when the particles are brought in-
sensibly near to each other. It could
hardly be expected, therefore, that
such a great mass of elements could
be brought together from the surround-
ing spaces, without producing chem-
ical operations of such force and
power as to disturb the whole globe.
Such forces would cause the upheaval
of the dry land in some places, and a
corresponding depression in others, to
which thwa ters would rush; or the
dry landmight be made to appear,
and the waters be gathered together,
by a very different process, namely,
by a variation of the period of the
earth's rotation.
250
ITS DIVISON INTO ISLANDS AND CONTINENTS.
The original position of the land
and water in regard to the surface of
the earth, as it existed immediately
after their separation, we have no
means of determining only by revela
tion. It is certain, however, that it
was entirely different from the present
arrangement; and that it remained so
sufficiently long for extensive marine
deposits to be formed, which, by the
great eruptions and changes that have
since taken place, exhibit themselves
in the interior of continents, and in
locations highly elevated above the
sea level.
From the revelations which God
has given, there is no doubt but there
has been a most wonderful change.
By them we learn that the Eastern
and Western Continents were one ;
whilst the waters occupied the polar
regions of our globe. America, Eu-
rope, Asia, Africa, and many Islands
of the sea, were all one land. The
dividing of the earth into continents
and islands, was mostly accomplished
in the days of Peleg, who was born
101 years after the flood, and died
339 years after that memorable de-
struction. Many changes were made
upon the earth in the days of Enoch :
and no doubt the flood occasioned
still greater-, but we must look to the
days of Peleg for the division of the
earth into continents and islands, and
the letting in of the waters upon the
equatorial regions. Since the grand
division of the earth, many great
changes have happened to the various
divisions of land by volcanic action
and earthquakes; the greatest of which
transpired at the crucifixion of Christ,
when all the face of this land was
broken up and changed ; many moun-
tains becoming valleys, and many val-
leys becoming mountains.
Without further revelation it is im-
possible for us to give any thing like
a correct idea of the geographical
condition of the earth before the days
of Peleg. Some of its general features
may be very correctly determined
from the following revelation, con-
cerning the second coming of Christ,
which reads thus :
" Prepare ye for the coming of the
Bridegroom ; go ye, go ye out to meet
Him, for behold, He shall stand upon
the Mount of Olivet, and upon the
mighty ocean, even the great deep,
and upon the islands of the sea, and
upon the land of Zion ; and He shall
utter His voice out of Zion, and He
shall speak from Jerusalem, and His
voice shall be heard among all people,
and it shall be a voice as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of a
great thunder which shall break down
the mountains, and the valleys shall
not be found; He shall command the
great deep, and it shall be driven back
into the north countries, and the is-
lands shall become one land, and the
land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion
shall be turned back into their own
place, and the earth shall be like as it
was in the days before it was divided.
And the Lord, even the Saviour, shall
stand in the midst of His people, and
shall reign over all flesh." (Doc.
and Gov., 108 : 5.)
The great deep is to be driven into
the north countries — the islands are
to become one land — the land of Jeru-
salem and the land of Zion (meaning
the Eastern and Western Continents)
are to be turned back into their own
place, and the earth to be restored
to its ancient geographical position.
John the revelator prophesies of the
same convulsions, and says that "ev-
ery mountain and island were moved
out of their places." He saw that
when the seventh angel poured out
his vial of the wrath of God that
"There were voices, and thunders,
and lightnings ; and there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since
men were upon the earth, so mighty
an earthquake and so great. And the
great city was divided into three parts,
and the cities of the nations fell: and
great Babylon came in remembrance
before God to give unto her the cup
of the wine of the fierceness of His
wrath. And every island fled away
and the mountains were not found."
Hev. 16: 17-20.
The same tremendous convulsion
is predicted by Isaiah (24 : 17-20) in
the following language: —
" Fear, and the pit, and the snare
ITS RESTORATION TO ITS ANTEDILUVIAN CONDITION.
251
are upon thee, O inhabitant of the
earth. Am! it shall come to pass, that
he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit ; and he
that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare :
for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth
do shake. The earth is utterly bro-
ken down, the earth is clean dissolved,
the earth is moved exceedingly ; the
earth shall reel to and fro, like a
drunkard, and shall be removed like a
cottage ; and the transgression thereof
shall be heavy upon it ; and it shall
fall, and not rise again."
The convulsion of the earth at the
time of its restoration to its antedilu
vian condition, will exceed all former
convulsions, not excepting the great
one which took place at the time of
its division into continents and islands;
hence, John describes it as the great-
est earthquake that hail ever happened
since men were upon the earth, not
only affecting the surface by casting
down mountains, and exalting valleys,
but causing the very continents and
islands themselves to flee away ; they
are not annihilated, but as John says,
"moved out of their places." It will
not be merely the exterior strata of
the earth that will be broken up, but
the very "foundations," as Isaiah says,
shall shake. This latter-day earth-
quake will be attended with intense
heat, melting and separating the very
elements, or as Isaiah says, "Th^
earth is clean dissolve d ; " and as the
Psalmist predicts : " A fire goeth be
fore Him. and burnetii up His enemies
round about. His lightnings enlight-
ened the world : the earth saw and
trembled. The hills melted li'<e wax
at the presence of the Lord, at the
presence of the Lord of the whole
earth. The heavens declare His right-
eousness, and all the people see His
Jory." (Ps. 97: 3-6.) From this pas-
sage we learn that this intense fire will
attend the presence of the Lord at His
coming, and appears to be of the nature
of " lightning," which is to " enlighten
the whole world." We can form some
idea of its intensity from the fact of its
" melting hills like wax," and " dis-
solving the earth."
If we had an antediluvian map, we
should be able to point out the future
geographical positions of the land and
water as it will exist during the Millen-
nium ; or in other words, an antedilu-
vian map would answer very well the
purpose of a Millennial map. For the
earth is to be restored to its former
condition.
In order to maintain the present
ellipticity of the earth, and its present
diurnal period of rotation, and at the
same time retain the seas in the polar
regions, it will be necessary that the
solid portions, now submerged be-
neath the equatorial sea, should be
upheaved or lifted up. This could
not be done without producing a cor-
responding depression around the
poles, and the waters would thus,
under the present laws of gravitation,
be obliged to rush from the equatorial
to the polar regions. Although it is
done by the direct command of God,
yet He generally accomplishes His
purposes through the medium of laws
which are in operation. For aught
we know the raising up oc the equa-
torial bed of the ocean may be ac-
complished by the internal forces of
the earth, with which we are entirely
unacquainted, only as we now and
then behold their effects in the earth-
quake and volcano. But whatever be
those internal forces, it is certain that
they will be controlled intelligently
so as to arrange the continents and
islands in their ancient position.
252
REPENTANCE.
REPENTANCE.
BY THE EDITOR.
( Concluded.)
Many other evils might be men-
tioned of which it is needful for you
to repent; but as you have much of
the word of God pointing them out
to you, it is not necessary for me in
this article to describe every particu-
lar evil. Many of you are guilty of
blaspheming that Holy Being who gave
you existence, and of continually using
his name in vain. Many of you are
their crimes have been exposed, or
that they have been prevented from
a realization of the happiness which
they anticipated. Tins is the sor-
row of the world ; and it is of the
same nature as the sorrowing of the
evil spirits in hell : they are sorry
when they fail to accomplish their
malicious designs against God and
His people. This kind of sorrow,
guilty of defrauding and taking the worketh death.
advantage of your neighbor; of bear- Others have a species of sorrow,
ing false witness ; of slandering, re
viling, and speaking evil of one anoth
er ; of oppressing the poor ; and of
arising through fear. They are con-
vinced that they have, in numerous
instances, violated the law of God,
being lifted up in great pride; and of and they greatly fear the consequences
withholding your riches and your
substance from the widow and* the
fatherless, and from the poor and
needy, while you and your false teach-
ers revel in the luxuries of the earth,
and adorn your chapels, and your
synagogues, and your churches with
all manner of costly ornaments : and
you clothe yourselves in silks and sat-
ins, and in fine twined linen, and re-
member not that God has given these
things to you, that you might not on-
ly be blessed yourselves, but that you
might bless the sick and afflicted. —
Of all these things, and of many oth-
er evils, you must repent, or you can
in no wise inherit the khwlom of God;
in the great judgment day ; but yet
they feel no disposition to reform. —
They are sorry that there is a law of
God, or a punishment in the world
to come. They love wickedness, and
are sorry that they must one day give
an account before God for all their
evil deeds. They are sorry that they
cannot continue to cheat and defraud
their neighbor, and heap up riches,
without being harassed with the idea
of future punishment. Many are con-
vinced in their hearts that the Book
of Mormon is a djvine revelation :
and they are sorry that God should
again speak to man ; they are sorry
that there is not some more popular
for the cries of the poor and needy j way of being saved ; they are sorry
will ascend up before God against you. | that they must subject themselves to
Having set forth the evils or' which
you are guilty, we now come to the
second part of our subject, namely —
The nature of the sorrow connected
with true repentance. There are dif-
ereut kinds of sorrow. Thieves, rob-
bers, murderers, adulterers, &c, are
frequently sorrowful because they
have been detected in the crimes which
they have committed. They are not
sorrowful, because they have sinned
against God, or because they have in-
jured others; but they are sorry that
the scorn and ridicule of the world
in order to receive the message which
God has now sent into the world. —
Finally, there are many things which
create sorrow in the world.
But the sorrow that is acceptable
in the sight of God is that which leads
to true repentance, or reformation of
conduct : it is that sorrow which arises,
not only through fear of punishment,
but through a proper sense of the evil
consequences of sin ; it is that sorrow
which arises from a knowledge of our
REPENTANCE.
253
own unworthiness, and from a con-
trast of our own degraded anil fallen
condition with the mercy, goodness,
and holiness of God. We are sorry
that we should ever have condescen
(led to do evil. We are sorry that we
should ever have rendered ourselves
so unworthy hefore God ; we are sor-
ry at the weakness of our own fallen
nature. This kind of sorrow will lead
us to obey every commandment of
God; it will make us humble and
childlike in our dispositions ; it will
impart unto us meekness and lowli
ness of mind ; it will cause our hearts
to be broken and our spirits to be con-
trite; it will cause us to watch, with
great carefulness, every word, thought,
and deed ; it will call up our past
dealings with mankind, and we will
feel most anxious to make restitution
to all whom we may have, in any way,
an particular benefit, unless we were
determined to forsake them Without a
covenant or promise before God that
we will forsake sin with an unsliak' n
determination, that we will henceforth
yield to no evil, our confession and re-
pentance will be vain, and we must
not expect to be pardoned ; for the
Holy One of Israel cannot be deceiv-
ed, and will not pardon those who
merely confess their sins, and still
make no resolution to forsake them ;
a confession of sins, unaccompanied
with the resolution to forsake, is a
solemn mockery before Him and will
add to our guilt, and increase ihe dis-
pleasure of heaven against us. There
are many who are afraid to make a
promise that they will sin no more,
lest they should break it. Now such
thoughts are not right ; for without
entering' into such a covenant, how
injured, it will lead us to sympathize j can such ones expect to be forgiven
with the poor and needy, and, if we I and obtain salvation ? If you were in
have riches, to administer to their I a house, enveloped with flames, and
wants ; it will cause us 10 visit the
sick and afflicted, and to do all that
the gospel requires to alleviate their
sufferings : these, and many other
good things, are the results of a God-
ly sorrow for sin. This is repent-
ance not in word but in deed ; this is
the sorrow with which the heavens
are well pleased.
Third, The confrssion necessary for
the penitent, in order to render him
sidl more acceptable in the sight of
God, is something that should not be
overlooked by those who are desirous,
not only to reform, but to obtain for-
giveness of past sins. Though we may
break r-ff from our sins, and reform
our conduct, yet we cannot expect a
forgiveness of our past sins w thout
a humble confession of the same. If
we have trespassed against any of our
neighbors, it is our duty, not only to
make restitution, but to make a suita-
ble confession a- d seek their forgive-
ness. We should also confess our
sins to God with a Godly sorrow and
contrition of spiri'.
And Fourth, this confession should
had the privilege of escape, w< uld
you still remain for fear that some fu-
ture evil might happen to you? No:
you would gladly accept the only pos-
sible means of safety. Oh, then, why
suffer the devil to cheat you out of
the only possible means of salvation
through fear of some imaginary evil
which you have the power, through
the grace of God, to ward off'? If
you linger behind, and enter into no
covenant with God for fear you may
break it, you are sure to perish in
vour sins. Whereas, if you exercise
your agency and repent, entering into
a solemn covenant to sin no more, the
grace of God will be sufficient for you
to sustain you in the hour of tempta-
tion and trial.
We have now pointed out all the
prominent principles, connected with
true repentance. And it can easily be
seen by every honest heart, that God
requires mankind, first to seek dili-
gently to discern good from evil and
to ascertain what sins and evils they
are guilty of; secondly, to be exercised
with a Godly sorrow that they have
be accompanied with a promise and I ever sinned against so great and good
determination to si?i no more. To con- ] a Being as God: thirdly, to make
less our sins before God would be of: suitable confession before God for all
254
BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.
past sins committed, and lastly, such a
confession must be accompanied with a
solemn covenant or promise to sin no
more; and the heart should be fixed
and immovable in this covenant. All
persons who will do these things will
have a measure of the Spirit of Christ
resting upon them, imparling humili-
ty, and meekness, and lowliness of
heart. But still this repentance does
not guarantee to them a remission of
sins; it only prepares the heart to
obey properly a great and holy ordi-
nance which God has instituted ex-
pressly for the remission of sins. We
mean the ordinance of Baptism. As
this holy ordinance is of so much
importance, and instituted expressly
for the benefit of penitent believers,
that they may obtain forgiveness of
all past sins, we feel it our duty to
say a few words on the nature of this
institution. But, in the meantime,
before we enter into its investigation,
permit us to exhort you, my dear
reader, to repent of every evil which
we have pointed out to you in this
article, and of every other sin which
you may be guilty of. Repent with
all your heart. Be determined that
you will neither eat, nor sleep, until
you have commenced the infinitely
important work. Remember how
much you have at stake — that it is
no less than the eternal happiness of
the soul, eternal life beyond the grave.
Oh, how many millions have gone
down to their graves in an impenitent
state ! you may in an unexpected
moment be cut off also. Oh then give
heed to the warning voice ; let your
heart be humble, and your spirit be
contrite ; confess your sins before
God, and forsake them, and prepare
yourself in all things to receive for-
giveness through the ordinance of
Baptism.
BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS.
BY THE EDITOR.
Having treated upon the subject of
Faith and Repentance, in the preced-
ing Nos. of this volume, we will now
proceed to show the way in which
the truly penitent believing soul may
be pardoned of all his past sins. It
has pleased God to ordain Baptism
or Immersion in water, as the medium
through which the truly penitent
should be forgiven of all the sins he
has com mi ted. Baptism does not atone
for sins, but it is an institution grant-
ed to man, because of the atonement
of Christ. The atonement is made
by the blood of Christ, but man can-
not receive the blessings of the atone-
ment legally and fully without strict-
ly complying with the conditions or-
dained of God. One of the choice
blessings purchas d by the precious
blood of Christ is the forgiveness of
sins, but all mankind do not have their
sins forgiven, but only such as claim
the purchased blessings by complying
with the requirement. Now we have
already shown that the first require-
ment is to have Faith or belief in the
words of Christ and his atonement ;
and that the second requirement is to
repent with a humble and contr te
heart, entering into a covenant to for-
sake all sin. Both these conditions
may be strictly complied with, and yet
past sins remain un forgiven. Why ?
Because the individual, as yet, has
not complied with the third condition
through which forgiveness is granted.
By complying with the first two con-
ditions, he has received a measure of
the spirit of Christ by which his heart
is melted down into humble contri-
tion : This spirit of meekness and
1 nvliness of heart is imparted to him
as a preparation to receive thf> holy
ordinance of Baptism acceptably in
the sight of God ; and when this or-
dinance is complied with by the be-
lieving penitent, th< n comes the Re-
mission of sins ; all former trans-
gressions are blotted out. Oh what
BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS
255
joy now fills the heart ! He is indeed,
anew creature! born of water ! and
adopted in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost into the family
of Christ! one of the sons of God !
his sins, though many, are freely par-
doned ! they no longer stand recorded
against him ! Oh who would not re-
pent and be baptized to receive so
great a blessing, and to be filled with
such great joy ! Alas ! there are many
who care not for these things ; and
the forgiveness of sins and the joys of
heaven, are treated with indifference ;
and they go down to their graves in
impenitence without any preparation
for the great judgment.
Baptism is just as essential to sal-
vation, as Faith and Repentance. — ■
Without being immersed in water no
man can enter into the fulness of Ce-
lestial glory : for baptism is instituted
for the remission of sins ; and ifaper-
son docs not take the necessary steps
to obtain pardon of sins, of course,
he cannot be saved in the kingdom of
God. Jesus did not shed hi? blood
to save us in our sins, but to open a
way whereby man might obtain for-
giveness through Faith, Repentance,
and Baptism : and no man can be
saved who neglects either of these
principles. Many have been taught
to seek forgiveness by prayer, and
have been told that baptism being on-
ly an outward ordinance would not
avail any thing, and that it is to be ad- j
ministered to those only who have j
already received forgiveness: these
are doctrines of false teachers, and
they are the wicked traditions hand-
ed down by apostate Christendom.
Baptism is a condition of forgive-
ness, and to teach mankind to seek
for pardon in any other way than the
one set forth in the gospel, is a
wicked perversion of truth, and all
such false teachers will, if they do
not repent, be sent down to hell; for
cursed be that man or angel who
preaches another gospel, or perverts
the true gospel of Christ.
Baptism in order to be acceptable
in the sight of God must be adminis-
tered by a man ordained of God and
authorized of Jesus Christ, otherwise,
it will be a solemn mockery before
God, and highly sinful in His sight.
But who in this generation have au-
thority to baptize ? None but those
who have received authority in the
church of Jesus Christ of Latter day
Saints : all other churches are en-
tirely destitute of all authority from
God ; and any person who receives
Baptism or the Lord's supper from
their hands will highly oflend God ;
for he looks upon them as the most
corrupt of all people. Both Catho-
lics and Proterlants are nothing less
than the "whore of Babylon" whom
the Lord denounces by the mouth of
John the Revelator as having cor-
rupted all the earth by their fornica-
tions and wickedness. And any per-
son who shall be so wicked as to re-
ceive a holy ordinance of the gospel
from the ministers of any of tin se
apostate churches will be sent dowrn
to hell with them, unless they repent
of the unholy and impious act. If
any penitent believer desires to obtain
forgiveness of sins through baptism,
let him beware of having any thing to
do with the churches of apostate
Christendom, lest he perish in the
au ful plagues and judgments, denoun-
ced against them. The only per-
sons among all nations, kindreds,
tongues, and people who have author-
ity from Jesus Christ to administer
any gospel ordinance are those called
and authorized among the Latter-day
Saints. Before the restoration of the
church of Christ to the earth in the
year 1830, there have been no people
on the earth for many generations
possessing authority from God to min-
ister gospel ordinances. We a^ain re-
peat, beware of the hypocritical false
teachers and imposters of Babylon.
Another great abomination practi-
ced among Christendom is the Bap-
tism of infants and little children. —
This wicked doctrine was invented
by the devil, in order to blind the
minds of the children of men, and
make them think that infant baptism
is all sufficient, and that the baptism
of adults for the remission of sins is
not necessary, provided that they
were sprinkled in infancy. All in-
256
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
fants am little children are free from
sin, having been redeemed from the
fall by the blood of Christ, and that
too without any conditions of Faith,
Repentance, or Baptism. All such
c-'/e im jcent before God, and are al-
ready prepared to inherit the kingdom
♦if heaven. Therefore, for parents to
i ave their little children bap ized is
awfully wicked before God; it is a
solemn mockery of the ordinances of
the gospel; and unless parents re-
pent of this great wickedness, they
will go down to hell. No doubt but
many have committed this great evil
in their ignorance, but now God
calls them to repent of this evil and
of every other sin, and be immersed
in water for a remission of all their
transgressions : and if they will not
do tins, the sins that they have com-
mitted in their ignorance, will be
answered upon their heads, as if they
had done them with a knowledge of
the will of God. Parents who are
gvilty of having their infan's bap-
tized must repent of the tivi , >i they
cannot be saved.
It is unnecessary for us to appeal
to the scriptures in proof of the doc-
trine of Faith, Repentance, and Bap-
tism as taught in these articles : for
th.1? we have already done in a series
of pamphlets which we have formerly
pubiished.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
Our subscribers are hereby in-
formed that afi^r the publication of the
sixth number of the present volume
of the Seer, th<> paper will be discon-
tinued, as the present limited circula-
tion is altogether inadequate to meet
the necessary expenses. The publi-
cation thus far has been attended in
this country with a loss of several
hundred dollars. We will send to
each of our subscribers enough of our
church publications to make up the
balance of the other half year's sub-
scription. When we commenced the
preseni
tl
■<f . wr were in hopes that
liave been sufficient in-
te ted by the nation to learn
our \ Lines from our own publica-
tions, instead of those of our enemies ;
but it seems that they prefer falsehood
to truth ; and when we would en-
lighten them and correct the misstate-
ments concerning us, they choose to
remain in ignorance and darkness.
We expect to leave Washington
about the first of May for Utah. All
letters for us, arriving after that date,
will most probably not be attended to.
Editor.
War,
CONTENTS:
241
Foreign Intelligence — Sam' h Islands, 247
Appointment, 247
Formation of the Earth — Its Division into Islands and Continents — Its Restoration
to its Antediluvian Condition, 248
Repentance, 252
Baptism for the Remission of Sins, 254
Notice to Subscribers, 256'
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY ORSON rilATT,
•41 £1 per annum, invariahly in advance.
(FpJ
HE
FIFtt
All yc inhabitants of tlie world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when lit
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. II.
MAY, 18 54
No. 5.
NEW REVELATION.
BY THE EDITOR.
There is no subject which is more
ridiculed by the religious world, at
the present day, than that of New
Revelation. All Christendom profess
to admit that the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, are still in existence, and
that they are unchangeable in their
attributes, and that there are just as
many angels now as in ancient times ;
but to assert that any of these holy
beings have communicated any New
Revelation to man since the first cen-
tury of the Christian era, is consider-
ed, if not blasphemy, something near
akin to it.
Now a religion that excludes New
Revelation from its principles, is just
the very religion that suits the devil :
he is well pleased with it. He cares
not how moral people may be, nor
how genteel and polished in their de-
portment, nor how much they go to
church, nor how many prayers they
pretend to offer up, nor how pious
they may be in every respect, if they
will only disbelieve in New Revela-
tion ; for he knows well that God has
nothing to do, nor never had, with
any religion that did not acknowledge
Prophets and Revelators, through
whom He could speak and reveal His
will to his sons and daughters.
The devil knows that God never
had a church on the earth without
having inspired men in it. No other
church gives him any uneasiness. He
likes to see them pray and be very
sanctimonious, as long as he knows
that they have no faith in New Reve-
lation. The devil rejoices, and his
angels are glad, when they look over
their wide spread dominions, and be-
hold countless churches and svna-
gogues professedly built to the God
of ancient revelation, and contemplate
the hundreds of millions whom they
have deluded with the idea that all
New Revelation is unnecessary. So
long as the devil can deceive the
people with this anti-christian and
unscriptural doctrine, he knows that
he is sure of them.
How well pleased his satanic ma-
jesty must have been, when he pre-
vailed upon the " Third Council of
Carthage," at the close of the fourth
century, to sit in judgment upon the
manuscript copies of the word of God,
compiling a few of them into a vol-
ume, and rejecting all the others, and
then passing an ecclesiastical law that
no other books or revelations should
ever be added to the canon or vol-
ume. This bound all their deluded
followers to reject, in every succeed-
ing generation, every thing in the form
of New Revelation. Oh! how the
hosts of hell must have exulted over
their signal success in thus cutting off
all further communication between
God and man !
And again : what could have more
gratified Satan when he found that
the religion of the Romish Church
258
NEW REVELATION.
did not altogether suit all the people,
than to have them, under the name of
Protestants, invent some new forms
of religion, excluding prophets, and
binding the people to believe in only
the sixty-six books of the Bible. This
newly invented religion, inasmuch as
it made the canon of scripture full,
and would in no wise admit prophets
to add any new books to the volume,
was just as acceptable to the devil as
the religion of the Catholics ; for
what the Catholics did not catch, the
other impositions would.
But the moment that God sent
angels from heaven to earth, and
raised up inspired men, and once
more restored the true Christian
Church to the earth, the devil, with
all his combined armies of Catholics
and Protestants, was enraged. For
God to dare restore the religion of the
Bible again to the earth, by sending
prophets and inspired men, by giving
visions, and by sending angels, as He
did in all other ages when His religion
was on the earth, was more than the
devil could bear without making a
tremendous exertion to put it down.
To undertake to put it down by scrip-
ture, reason or argument, was entirely
in vain, though this was attempted in
some few instances at first, but it al-
ways resulted in the most disastrous
consequences to the devil's kingdom.
The devil soon found that there was
not the least shadow of evidence to
sustain the Catholic and Protestant
imposition against the doctrine of
continued revelation. This forlorn
hope having utterly failed him, his
next and most successful operation
was to ridicule and denounce the doc-
trine, and lie about it, and, if possible,
to close the eyes, and ears, and hearts
of the people effectually against it.
But even in this thing he will be de-
feated ; though he may for a time tri-
umph, yet the refuge of lies shall be
swept away, and God will show unto
the honest in heart, with power and
great glory, that He is the same yes-
terday, to-day and for ever, and that
he is a God who delights to reveal
Himself by revelations, and dreams,
and visions, and prophecies, by the
ministering of angels, and by the mir-
aculous gifts and power of the Holy
Ghost. All who deny these things,
and do them away, will be cut off
from among the people, and be sent
down to hell to suffer with the devil
who has deceived them, and by whom
they have been led captive to reject
and deny the gifts of the Holy Ghost
and the powers and glory of God7s
kingdom.
If tins generation are asked to give
a reason for rejecting all revelation
later than John the Revelator's day,
their answer is, almost universally,
" We have enough, and need no
more;'' and we reply, yes, they have
enough to send them to hell, unless
they will receive more, when God in
mercy offers it to them. The very
Bible, which they pretend is enough,
will rise up in judgment against apos-
tate Christendom, and condemn them,
because in it is taught the doctrine of
continued revelation, which they have
the great wickedness to reject.
But why is the devil so angry with
a church under the guidance of New
Revelation ? Because he knows that
a people wdio live near enough to the
Lord to receive information from Him,
will receive by that means a knowl-
edge of all his cunning plans, and de-
tect the cunning devices by which he
has blinded the nations of apostate
Christendom so long. To have the an-
cient and venerated systems of priest-
craft exposed, and the false doctrines,
which he has taken so much pains to
introduce and maintain for so many
centuries, overturned by the restora-
tion of true Christianity again to the
earth, is calculated to moke the hellish
hosts and all under their influence,
who delight in darkness, to tremble
with anxiety and through fear of the
consequences.
Fear and trembling seize upon the
wicked priests, whenever the sound
of ancient Christianity, with its reve-
lations, prophecies, visions and the
gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost,
approach iheir neighborhood. Their
craft is in danger — they fear for their
rotten, corrupt forms of religion —
they fear that the people will get their
NEW REVELATION.
259
eyes open to discern the wide differ-
ence between the religion of the Bible
and their powerless forms invented by
the devil and his servanls— they fear
that their popularity will wane, and
their salaries be decreased or entirely
fail them. To travel without purse
or scrip, as the Latter-day and Form-
er-day Saints have done, they cannot
afford to do. And then if they should
do so, they would receive no reward,
but condemnation for preaching false
doctrines among the people.
If they preach false doctrines they
think that they must be well paid :
for it is the only reward that they
can get, and bye-and-bye the end
comes and they are hewn down and
cast into the fire : their motto, then
is, to live grand while they have the
chance, and so long as they can de-
lude the nations with their apostate
forms of religion, under the sacred
garb of Christianity, they have the
prospect of waxing fat on the hard
earnings of their deluded victims.
No wonder then that, ancient Chris-
tianity, taught by the humble servant
of God, as the Holy Ghost gives him
utterance, is like an arrow to the
hearts of such hypocritical imposters.
Oh ! how abhorrent and disgusting to
a humble servant of Christ, and to
God, and to all His holy angels, to
see Catholic and Protestant ministers
enter their richly adorned churches
and chapels, and there pretend to
worship God, when they are as des-
titute of almost every feature of an-
cient Christianity as the devil and his
angels. The days are not far distant
when such base hypocrites, and all
that will suffer themselves to be de-
ceived by them, will be cast down by
devouring fire, that their impositions,
and their hypocrisies, and their cor-
ruptions, and all their filthiness and
abominations, may cease to come up
before the Lord of Hosts.
Tremble and fear ! for if there ever
were a generation that had need to
tremble and fear, it is the present. —
Tell about this being an enlightened
age — an age of gospel light! Never
was there an age of greater darkness
since man was created upon the earth
so far as it regards the religion of
heaven. It is the very age predicted
by Isaiah, the Prophet, when "dark-
ness should cover the earth and gross
darkness the people ; " it is a day of
thick darkness — darkness that has
been accumulating for centuries,
through the abominations practiced
by the apostate nations of Christen-
dom. Not even one ray of light from
heaven has forced its passage through
the dark, gloomy, dismal night with
which they have been for centuries
enshrowded, until an angel penetrated
the depths and brought to light that
sacred, heavenly, and most precious
treasure — the Book of Mormon — and
raised up inspired men by which light
from heaven again shines on our
earth. But so great are the mists of
darkness, that this generation do not
perceive the light. "The light shineth
in darkness but the darkness compre-
hendeth it not."
" An age of light !" Oh tell it not
in the face of high heaven! Where
are your holy apostles inspired from
heaven to speak the word of the Lord
in the ears of fallen man ? Where
are your prophets to lift up their
voices by the word of the Lord, and
warn the nations of approaching
danger? Where are your beers, en-
rapped in the visions of the Al-
mighty, bringing to l'ght things both
new and old, opening the grand
events of futurity, and unlocking the
hidden mysteries of the heavenly
world? Where now is the voice of
inspiration, and the voice of angels,
to salute the ears of mortal man with
glad tidings of great joy ? Where
now are the gifts of healing — the
opening of the eyes of the blind — the
unstopping of the ears of the deaf —
the speaking with other tongues, and
all the miraculous gifts and powers of
the Holy Ghost ? They are not to be
found in apostate Christendom, oidy
as enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints.
Will Christendom have the unblush-
ing impudence to call themselves the
people of God, when they are desti-
tute of all those most precious gifts
promised in the gospel ? " An age
of light !" Oh shame ! Oh impu-
260
NEW RETELATION.
dence ! when will you cease to call evil
good? How longwill the heavens suf-
fer such wickedness to go unpunished!
" An age of light!'' — "a Christian
nation !" Go to all your large cities
throughout the land — find one, if you
can, where there are not whoredoms
and other abominations enough, com-
mitted every day, to sink the whole
nation to the lowest hell. Look at
the swarms of public prostitutes, per-
mitted to roam at large and corrupt
society with their accursed filthiness,
and then lift your eyes to heaven and
hypocritically thank God that you
live in such a christian nation. Oh,
fear and tremble, ye hypocrites, ye
whited sepulchres, lest God shall
smite you, for thus provokingly tell-
ing him that you are a christian na-
tion ! But God suffers you thus to
corrupt yourselves, because you love
darkness, and priestcrafts, and whore-
doms, and false doctrines and every
evil work. He will suffer you until
your golden cup is full and running
over, that he may visit you with a
more speedy and awful judgment, and
blot out your name from under heav-
en ! Then shall the holy apostles,
and prophets, and all the heavens re-
joice over your downfall ; for you
shall fall to rise no more.
At the present time, so great is your
wickedness, that silence reigns in
heaven, and all eternity is pained, and
the angels are waiting with longino-
anxiety for the great command to
reap down the harvest of the earth,
and bind the tares in bundles, and give
them to the burning flame ! And if
you will not listen to the warning
voice, and repent, the servants of God
Avill not cease their cries to the heav-
ens, until God shall come out of his
hiding place, and make a full end,
that the earth may be cleansed and
rest for a season.
How is it, that you will not awake
to a sense of the awful condition that
you are in ? How is it, that you will
close your eyes to the signs of the
times, and not perceive the day of
your visitation ? How is it, that you
will not pay any attention to "that
which belongs to your peace ? How
is it, that you can be so hard in your
hearts and blind in your minds that
you cannot perceive the hand of the
Lord in bringing to light the sacred
Records of the ancient Israelites who
dwelt upon this continent ? Why do
you condemn that most excellent
work upon popular rumour, without
even reading one page of its contents?
Why will you be proud in your hearts,
and exalt yourselves above all other
nations, and boast in your own
strength as a nation, and imagine
that no evil will come upon you,
though you continue in your wicked-
ness ? Why not discern and under-
stand that it is God that has made
you a strong and powerful nation, and
not yourselves ? It is God that set-
teth up and pulleth down. If you
would repent, as He requires you in
the Book of Mormon, you would
continue to be blessed upon the land;
but if you obey not, and reject His
word, He will certainly visit you as it
is written. Oh, then, why will you
not repent? it will certainly do you
no harm to repent, and forsake false
doctrines, and every species of wick-
edness. If you repent and call upon
the Lord even as our pilgrim fathers
did, when they first came to this land,
God will be merciful unto you and
prolong your blessings in the land. —
Even though you, in your darkness,
may suppose the Book of Mormon an
imposition, you certainly will be on
the safe side if you repent and do as
that book requires.
If this new revelation required you
to do something that was evil, you
would have some reason for distrust-
ing it and paying no attention to it;
but when it requires you to repent, and
forsake every evil practice, and sets
forth your evils and abominations
plainly before your eyes, of which
you yourselves know that you are
guilty, where is your excuse for not
obeying, even though you may think
that it is the work of man ? If it be
the work of man, can you be excused,
and will God overlook all the sins
which you know you are guilty of
and which that book accuses you of,
and which it requires you to repent of?
ZION OF ENOCH.
261
No : you have no excuse ; you well
know that you ought to repent of ev-
ery evil of which that book accuses
you; and that God will in no wise
acquit the guilty. And if you already
know this, how much more ought
you to fear when a professed revela-
tion makes its appearance threatening
you with awful and speedy judgment,
if you do not repent.
Oh my nation ! the inhabitants of
this beautiful and lovely country ! open
your ears to the voice of your Re-
deemer, whose bowels of compassion
yearn over you — whose voice is to all
the inhabitants of the land calling up-
on them to repent, and turn away from
all their iniquities, and be baptized in
His name for the remission of their
sins, that they may be filled with the
Holy Ghost. Then shall ye know
His voice, and the voice of his ser-
vants, and the voice of his spirit : for
the spirit is light, and maketh mani-
fest the truth, and if it be in you, you
shall be the children of light and not
walk in darkness.
Now what man is there in all this
nation that will not acknowledge that
repentance would not only be benefi-
cial to individuals, but to the whole
nation? Why then condemn the
Book of Mormon, for calling upon
you to do that which you know
would be beneficial ? But, you may
reply, the Book of Mormon professes
to be a New Revelation and to call
upon us by authority to repent, and
we do not believe in new revelation,
and therefore we will not repent. —
A poor excuse, indeed ! that you will
not do that which you acknowledge
would be beneficial, because you are
afraid of giving sanction to the
Book of Mormon.
Another thing should cause you to
fear and tremble exceedingly. You
should remember that, that very book
is substantiated to this generation with
far greater evidence than they have
for any other revelation. (See "Divine
Authenticity of the Book of Mor-
mon," by 0. Pratt.) To reject so great
evidence, and still remain in your sins
will be presumptuous on your part.
Again, every man in the nation has
the privilege on condition of repent-
ance and obedience of receiving the
Holy Ghost, which will most assured-
ly guide them into all truth, and bear
record unto them of the truth of this
New Revelation, so that they may
have the same knowledge of the di-
vine Authenticity of the Record as
they have of any other truth. To
know a thing to be true certainly
would impart more happiness and
joy, than to remain in uncertainty and
doubt. A knowledge of the truth
will give stability to the mind, so that
it will not fluctuate to and fro with
every wind of doctrine, invented by
the cunning craftiness of uninspired
men. Is there any excuse therefore,
for any man in the nation ? when it
is within the power of all to obtain
the most perfect knowledge that the
Book of Mormon is a revelation from
God? And especially when this
knowledge is to be obtained by doing
that which every man will acknowl-
edge ought to be done, and which all
see would be beneficial both to indi-
viduals and to the nation to do ?
ZION OF ENOCH
BY THE EDITOR.
What is the meaning of the word
Zion? The Prophet Enochans wers
this question in the following lan-
guage : — ■" And the Lord called His
people Zion, because they were of
one heart and one mind, and dwelt in
righteousness ; and there was no poor
among them." The Lord by the
mouth of Joseph the Prophet gave
the following definition : — " Let Zion
rejoice, for this is Zion — The pure
in Hearth Enoch was called of God,
262
ZION OF ENOCH.
when but a young man, and was sent
forth unto the antediluvian nations to
preach Faith, Repentance, and Bap-
tism for the remission of sins, and to
Prophesy and warn the people of ap-
proaching' judgment. Many among
the nations hearkened to his voice,
and received the gospel, and became
the sons of God ; for the Holy Ghost
fell upon them, and they were born
of God. These by the commandment
of God, were gathered out from the
nations by themselves, and they were
established upon the high places of
the earth and upon the mountains; and
became sanctified before the Lord ;
"and the Lord came and dwelt with
His people, and they dwelt in right-
eousness. The fear of the Lord was
upon all nations, so great was the
glory of the Lord which was upon
His people."
It was under these circumstances
that the Lord called his people Zion.
And from what God has revealed,
concerning this great continent, we
have reason to believe that this is the
very land where the righteous were
gathered in the days of Enoch. And
there are indications in the revelations
which God has given us through the
mouth of Joseph Smith, that this is
the very land, where once flourished
the garden of Eden. One thing is
certain, that three years previous to
Adam's death " he called Seth, Enos,
Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and
Mathuselah, who were all high priests,
with the residue of his posterity who
were righteous, into the valley of Ad-
am— Ondi— Ahman, and there bestowed
upon them his last blessing. And the
Lord appeared unto them, and they
rose up and blessed Adam, and called
him Michael, the Prince, the Archan-
gel. And the Lord administered com-
fort unto Adam, and said unto him, I
have set thee to be at the head — a multi-
tude of nations shall come of thee, and
thou art a prince over them for ever,"
(Doc. and Cov. Sec. 2 : 28.)
Here then were eight generations,
including all the righteous of Adam's
posterity, all assembled in the valley
of "Adam — Ondi — Ahman," Accord-
ing to other revelations of the mar-
tyred Prophet Joseph, this valley is in
the state of Missouri, only about 50
or 60 miles north of Jackson Co.,
where the city of Zion is to be built
up in the last days. From the fact
that Adam "called" his descendants
into that valley, we have reason to be-
lieve that it was his place of residence
— his old homestead, perhaps, where
he may have dwelt for many centu-
ries.
Enoch built a city, called Zion, and
the people who received the gospel
through his ministry dwelt therein. —
It is very probable that Jared the fath-
er of Enoch and all his Ancestors, even
to Adam, were not located very far
from the city of Enoch. Whether
Adam and all those of his descendants
who were righteous in Enoch's day
still dwelt near their native country ;
or whether they had emigrated from
some distant part of the earth in order
to detach themselves from the wicked-
ness of surrounding nations, we can-
not positively determine without fur-
ther revelation. As the earth was not
divided into continents and islands be-
fore Enoch's day, it would not have
been difficult for Adam, and the right-
eous of those days, to have emigrated
by land from the opposite side of the
globe to this country. But if the
Ancestors of Enoch came with him
from some distant part of the globe,
it would be reasonable to suppose
that they would have located them-
selves in the same city with him, and
have been translated and caught up
into heaven with him and his people.
But from the fact that all his Ances-
tors, except Adam, were alive at
the time that Zion was caught up, and
that they were all left behind and
lived on the earth many years after
that event, it seems almost certain that
they did not live in Zion ; but proba-
bly were located on their old inher-
itances where they lived when the
foundations of Zion were laid.
Mathuselah, the son of Enoch, was
also left behind, and lived for some
six centuries until the flood. His
grand-son, Noah, most probably built
the Ark in this land : if so, he must
have been wafied by winds and cur-
ZION OF ENOCH.
263
rents for many months until he landed
upon the mountains of Ararat. —
Without direct revelation it would
have been difficult for Noah to have
determined the geographical position
of his landing place; he and his sons
located themselves in Asia, and it is
very doubtful whether they had any
idea of the great distance that inter-
vened between them and their native
country.
America, then, may be considered
the Old world — the cradle of the hu-
man race — the theatre of events per-
taining to the antediluvian age. From
American soil was formed the first
tabernacles of man and beast, fowl and
creeping things. Here was the gar-
den of the Lord, where flourished the
tree of life whose fruit was calculated
to impart immortality and eternal life
to those who should partake thereof.
Here God conversed freely with man
and gave him dominion over the
earth. Here Satan introduced sin, and
misery, and death. Here holy mes-
sengers guarded with a flaming sword
the tree of life from the hands of fallen
man. Here Cain imbrued his hands
in the blood of righteous Abel. Here
nations multiplied on nations and
waxed strong in wickedness before
God. Here Enoch preached repent-
ance and baptism for the remission of
sins, and led the people of God, who
overcame their enemies that came to
battle against them. Here Enoch
"spake the word of the Lord, and the
earth trembled, and the mountains
fled, even according to his command;
and the rivers of water were turned
out of their course ; and the roar of the
lions was heard out of the wilderness ;
and all nations feared greatly, so pow-
erful was the word of Enoch, and so
great was the power of language
which God had given him. There
also came up a land out of the depth
of the sea; and so great was the fear
of the enemies of the people of God
that they fled and stood afar off, and
went upon the land which came up
out of the depths of the sea. And the
giants of the land, also, stood afar off;
and there went forth a curse upon all
the people which fought against God :
and from that time forth there were
wars and bloodsheds among them."
Here flourished the city of Zion,
built by Enoch and his people, and
God chose it for his dwi lling place
for ever, and He came and dwelt in
the midst of it; and His glory over-
shadowed it for upwards of three cen-
turies, when it was taken up with all
the inhabitants thereof into heaven. —
Here was built an ark of safety, where-
in seed of all flesh was preserved to
repeople a world cleansed from wick-
edness by baptism in the mighty
flood.
What portion of the land was taken
up with the Zion of Enoch is not re-
vealed. It seems very probable that
a sufficient quantity of the earth would
be translated with the city to form in-
heritances for the people. In what
part of space this city is located is un-
known. During the interval between
the translation of Zion and the flood,
angels came down out of heaven and
appeared unto many, "and the Holy
Spirit fell on many and they were
caught up by the powers of heaven
into Zion." The descendants of Noah
not having faith sufficient to be caught
up into Zion, concluded to build a
tower sufficiently high to get there
without being under the necessity of
receiving a translation. From this it
appears that the early descendants of
Noah had an idea that Zion was loca-
ted somewhere near the earth. Abra-
ham sought to become an inhabitant
of the same city ; for, as Paul declares,
" he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker
is God." Abraham understood that
in the translation of the city theie was
something more than the houses
caught up : he was aware that the
city had "found 'at ions''' as well as
buildings; and he knew that God
was the " builder and maker'''' of it ;
or, in other words, that God gave
Enoch the pattern and instructed him
how to build it.
There have been many conjectures
among; the saints in regard to the con-
dition of the inhabitants of Enoch's
city : some have supposed them still
to be mortal — that they die — aid that
264
ZION OF ENOCH.
successive generations come and go as
here : others have supposed that they
were only partially changed so that
death could have no power over them ;
conjecturing that the change was sim-
ilar to that received by the three
Nephites, mentioned in the Book of
Mormon, and that they will not re-
ceive a full change until the coming
of Christ, or the last day : Others
suppose them to have been changed
from mortality to immortality. We
have no revelation to decide directly
which of these suppositions is correct ;
although we are inclined to believe
that the latter supposition is the most
probable. But this is a subject which
does not immediately concern us, as
a matter of importance ; God is wil-
ling for us to know all about the Zion
of Enoch, and about many other
things that are good, and great, and
glorious, just as fast as we will pre-
pare our hearts to receive knowledge:
and it is only on account of our dark-
ness, unbelief, and disobedience that
many mysteries are withheld from us.
To suppose that the inhabitants of
the city of Enoch have been caught
away to some other planetary body,
and that they have there continued to
multiply a fleshly offspring, would
necessarily involve the idea of mor-
tality and death; for we know of no
revelation that indicates that a fleshly
offspring could be derived from im-
mortal parents. If therefore, a fleshly
offspring are begotten in the Zion of
Enoch, then mortality and death reign
among them ; and generation must
have succeeded generation ; and there
has been time enough for them to have
peopled several worlds as large as
this. On the other hand, if they
were immortal, their offspring must
have been spirits ; and as in this con-
dition none of their children could
multiply, the increase would be far
less. Indeed, a city containing four
hundred thousand inhabitants, consist
ing of an equal number of immortal
males aud females, would require
about three hundred thousand years
to people one world with the same
number of inhabitants as have already
come upon our globe ; that is, suppo-
sing the rate of increase to be two
hundred thousand per year.
However far the Zion of Enoch may
be from the earth's appointed orbit, it i's
certain, according to the promise of
God, that it will return again to the
earth at the second coming of Christ.
We can hardly believe that this city
was taken away beyond the limits of
the Solar system ; for if it had been
carried with a velocity of one mile
per minute, it would have required up-
wards of Ave thousand years to have
gone as far as the planet Neptune :
and with that velocity it would have
required over ten thousand years to
go there and return. As an immortal
body has the power of rendering it-
self invisible, it is reasonable to infer
that a city wrought upon by the pow
er of God, and changed in its nature,
could be rendered invisible, and still
be within our immediate vicinity.
One of the most beautiful charac-
teristics of the antediluvian Zion, was
that " they were of one heart and one
mind, and there were no poor among
them," a perfect union of sentiment
and feeling' : no bitterness — no hatred
— no slandering or reviling — no de-
frauding or taking the advantage one
of another — no person seeking to ag-
grandize himself by heaping up riches
while others were poor — no selfish-
ness or pride — no hypocrisy or af-
fectation : but every one loved his
neighbor as himself — every one stu-
died the welfare of the whole — every
one considered himself as only a stew-
ard over the things committed to his
charge : it was all considered the
Lord's, and ready to be appropriated
for any purpose which the Lord
should direct. They were equal in
earthly things, therefore the Lord
made them equal in heavenly things.
Nothing short of continued revelation
could ever have brought aboutan or-
der of things so perfect. Such union
was strength and power; such one-
ness was after the order of heaven :
the powers of the earth could not hold
them — the laws of nature could not
retain them: their faith laid hold on
immortality — on eternal life — on the
powers of heaven — on heavenly things;
LATTER-DAY ZION.
265
the veil was parted and could no more
be closed — the city of Zion fled from
earth to heaven there to be reserved
until a day of righteousness should
come, when the earth should rest ;
then shall they return to their native
land and their city with them ; then
shall be fulfilled the words of Isaiah :
" Thy watchmen shall lift up then-
voice, and with the voice together
shall they sing ; for they shall see eye
to eye when the Lord shall bring
again Zion." Yes: when the Lord
brings again the Zion of Enoch from
heaven to earth the watchman of the
Latter day Zion shall see eye to eye
with the watchman of the Zion from
heaven : then shall ancient and mod-
ern saints embrace each other, and
their hearts shall be full of joy ; for
the Lord himself will be there, and He
will comfort his people for evermore.
LATTER-DAY ZION.
BY THE EDITOR.
The Latter-Day Zion will resem-
ble, in most particulars, the Zion of
Enoch : it will be established upon
the same celestial laws — be built up-
on the same gospel, and be guided by
continued revelation. Its inhabitants,
like those of the antediluvian Zion,
will be the righteous gathered out
from all nations : the glory of God
will be seen upon it; and His power
will be manifested there, even as in
the Zion of old. All the blessings
and grand characteristics which were
exhibited in ancient Zion will be
shown forth in the Latter-Day Zion.
As the Zion of Enoch was caught up
by the powers of heaven, so will the
Latter-Day Zion be taken up into the
cloud when the heavens are opened
and the face of the Lord is unveiled
at His second coming.
As the building up of Zion in the
last days is to be a work of so great
a magnitude, it will not, we trust, be
uninteresting to our readers if we re-
fer to some of the ancient prophecies
relative to it ; especially as the day is
at hand when the Lord has laid the
foundation and commenced the ful-
filment of the great work.
The Psalmist, speaking propheti-
cally, exclaims, "Thou shalt arise,
and have mercy upon Zion : for the
time to favour her, yea, the set time, is
come. For thy servants take pleas-
ure in her stones, and favour the dust
thereof. So the heathen shall fear
the name of the Lord, and all the
I kings of the earth thy glory. When
the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall
! appear in His glory. He will regard
I the prayer of the destitute, and not
| despise their prayer. This shall be
I written for the generation to come :
' and the people which shall be created
shall praise the Lord. For He hath
looked down from the height of His
sanctuary ; from heaven did the Lord
behold the earth ; to hear the groan-
ing of the prisoner ; to loose those
that are appointed to death ; to declare
the name of the Lord in Zion, and His
praise in Jerusalem when the people
are gathered together, and the king-
doms to serve the Lord." (Psalm
102:13-22.)
From this we learn that the build-
ing up and the favouring of Zion was
not to take place in that age, for it is
expressly declared, that what was
then written was for the benefit of
"a generation to come." That it
had no reference to the Christian
Church built up in the days of the
apostles, is certain from the declara-
tion that, " When the Lord shall
build up Zion, he shall appear in His
glory." It was to be a work, there-
fore, immediately preceding the glori-
ous appearing of our Lord. It will
be a work in which the power of God
will be so marvelously displayed, that
it will excite the attention of whole
nations and kingdoms to that degree,
that they will actually gather together
among the people of Zion to serve
266
LATTER-DAY ZION.
the Lord. One object they will have
in view in gathering, will be to
worship the Lord in His house, and
to receive ordinances therein. Or as
the Prophet Isaiah, when speaking of
this subject, says, " And it shall
come to pass in the last days, that
the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills ; and all nations shall flow
unto it. And many people shall go
and say, Come ye, and let us go up
to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob ; and He
will teach us of His ways, and we
will walk in His paths : for out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And He shall judge among the na-
tions, and shall rebuke many people :
and they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks : nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more." (Isaiah
2 : 2-4.)
It is very evident from this that
there will be a glory and power con-
nected with the establishment of the
house of the Lord, that will be suffi-
cient to cause whole nations and king-
doms to flow unto it. They flow to
the mountains where the house of the
God of Jacob is erected, because they
can there be taught in the ways of the
Lord, and receive information that is
impossible for them to receive in their
own lands. In Zion a law will be
given by the Great Law Giver, which
will be for the government of all na-
tions ; and all nations will have to
submit to that law, or be destroyed
from the earth : for the " Lord will
rebuke strong nations afar off." The
law for the government of all nations
will go forth from Zion the same as the
laws for the government of the United
States now go forth from Washing-
ton. Zion will be the seat of gov-
ernment, and her officers will be far
more respected, and have far more in-
fluence, than those of any government
upon the earth ; all nations will yield
the most perfect obedience to their
commands and counsels. There will
be no party politicians, and party
newspapers to speak evil of them, as
they now do of the President and
highest authorities of this nation : a
word from them will control all the
inhabitants of the earth as one man.
This great influence and high respect
will not be obtained by swaying the
sceptre of tyrants — by binding the
people down with the strong arm of
oppression ; but it will be because of
their righteousness, and their faith in
God, and because their power is given
to them from God ; and they act, and
speak, and counsel, and command in
His name and by His authority ; and,
therefore, the nations must obey or
incur the displeasure of Him vvho
governs all things, according to His
own will and pleasure.
The Lord says, concerning Zion,
''And I will restore thy judges as at
the first, and thy counsellors as at the
beginning : afterward thou shall be
called The city of righteousness —
the faithful city." (Isaiah 1 : 26.)
" I will also make thy officers peace,
and thine exactors reighteousness."
(Isaiah 60 : 17.) When the Lord re-
stores the judges, counsellors and offi-
cers of Zion, after the same order as
in the ancient Zion, or among Israel,
He will choose good and righteous
men who can be entrusted to direct
the governmental affairs of every na-
tion under heaven, who will see that
the laws issued from Zion are proper-
ly respected and obeyed.
Ambitious politicians are now striv-
ing, contending, and exerting all their
power in order to obtain the presi-
dential chair or a seat in Congress.
If they can only arise high enough to
preside over this nation for four years,
they think it wonderful honor. O
fools ! how little do they know what
true honor is ! We would rather be
honored with the office of deacon,
among the high and honorable people
of Zion, than to be elected President
of the United States; for the latter is
but a momentary office, expiring at
the close of four short years ; while
the former will endure for ever; or
rather, he who honors the office of
deacon, and faithfully discharges the
LATTER-DAY ZTON
267
duties of the same, will receive a
crown, and kingdom, and power, and
authority, and greatness, and honor,
and glory, that will never have an
end : and even in this life the days
will come that deacons in Zion will
be more honored and more respected,
than any emperor, king or president,
now ruling among the nations.
Before Zion can partake of the
glory and honor promised to her, she
will be hated, afflicted, and despised
by the wicked : and because she does
not, at first, give heed in all things to
the word of the Lord, He will chas-
ten her, and for a moment hide His
face from her, and forsake her; and
she will be as a wife of youth, for-
saken and grieved in spirit. And in
the midst of her affliction she will ex-
claim, " The Lord hath forsaken me,
and my Lord hath forgotten me."
But the Lord saith, " Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she
should not have compassion on the
son of her womb ? yea, they may for-
get, yet will I not forget thee. Be-
hold I have graven thee upon the
palms of my hands ; thy walls are
continually before me." (Isaiah 49 :
14, 15.) All the shame and reproach
which she has suffered from her ene-
mies will be wiped away : hence,
Isaiah says, " Fear not ; for thou shalt
not be ashamed ; neither be thou con-
founded ; for thou shalt not be put to
shame : for thou shalt forget the shame
of thy youth, and shalt not remember
the reproach of thy widowhood any
more. For thy Maker is thine hus-
band ; the Lord of Hosts is His name ;
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel ; the God of the whole earth
shall He be called. For the Lord
hath called thee as a woman forsaken
and grieved in spirit, and a wife of
youth, when thou wast refused, saith
thy God. For a small moment have
I forsaken thee ; but with great mer-
cies will I gather thee. In a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a
moment ; but with everlasting kind-
ness will I have mercy on thee, saiih
the Lord thy redeemer." (Isaiah 54 :
4-8.)
Though Zion has been driven by
these United States, and been perse-
cuted, hated, and despised, let her
not be discouraged, nor faint-hearted,
nor afraid ; for God will surely re-
member His kindness towards her, to
bring to pass all that is written. As
the Lord has "sworn that the waters
of Noah should no more go over the
earth ; so hath He sworn that he
would not be wroth with thee, nor
rebuke thee." And again for the en-
couragement of Zion in her pffliction,
the Lord says, "for the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed :
but my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my
people be removed, saith the Lord
that hath mercy on thee. O thou
afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not
comforted, behold, I will lay thy
stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires. And I will
make thy windows of agates, and thy
gates of carbuncles, and all thy bor-
ders of pleasant stones. And all thy
children shall be taught of the Lord;
and great shall be the peace of thy
children." (Isaiah 54 : 9-13.)
When the city of Zion is built up
in Jackson county, in the state of
Missouri, with all the precious stones
spoken of in the above quotation, it
seems that they will be no more
"afflicted and tossed to and fro and
not comforted." Mob violence will
no more prevail against them, provi-
ding that they continue in righteous-
ness. For the Lord says, "In right-
eousness shalt thou be established ;
thou shalt be far from oppression ; for
thou shalt not fear : and from terror :
for it shall not come near thee ." (verse
14.) |Their enemies no doubt will
even then seek their overthrow, but
they will be completely disappointed.
"•Behold they shall surely gather to-
gether, but not by me, whosoever
shall gather together against thee shall
fall for thy sake." (Verse 15.)
Should the enemies of Zion even
invent new weapons of warfare, and
think to prevail against her by that
means, it will be useless for them to
try it; for the Lord says. "No weap-
on that is formed apainst thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall
268
LATTER-DAY ZION.
rise against thee in judgment thou
shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord and their
righteousness is of me, saith the
Lord." (Verse 17.)
The Lord will not only deliver
Zion from all her enemies, but He
will actually make all nations serve
her, as will be seen by the following
quotation : — "And the sons of stran-
gers shall build up thy walls, and
their kings shall minister unto thee :
for in my wrath I smote thee, but in
my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Therefore thy gates shall be open con-
tinually ; they shall not be shut day
nor night ; that men may bring unto
thee the forces of the Gentiles, and
that their kings may be brought. —
For the nation and kingdom that will
not serve thee shall perish ; yea, those
nations shall be utterly wasted." —
"The sons also of them that afflicted
thee shall come bending unto thee ;
and all they that despised thee shall
bow themselves down at the soles of
thy feet; and they shall call thee, The
city of the Lord, The Zion of the
Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 60 : 10,
11, 12, 14.)
O how great must be the glory and
power of the Lord to cause kings to
rise up and leave their native country
to visit Zion ! The forces of the Gen-
tiles will come to her as a flowing
stream whose waters cease not, day
nor night : they will come like clouds
flying, and like doves seeking refuge
in their windows from storms and
tempests. What a change of senti-
ments and feelings there must be, to
cause those who have despised the
saints to bow themselves down at the
soles of their feet ! if any nations are
too stubborn or too proud to show
this respect, and to serve Zion, they
will have the alternative of being de-
stroyed and utterly wasted.
But why does the Holy One of
Zion confer this honor upon his peo-
ple ? Because they have patiently
submitted to. every kind of insult and
abuse that the Gentiles could heap
upon them for the truth's sake : be-
cause they have been " afflicted and
tossed to and fro" by their enemies ;
and because in all their tribulation ,
they have held fast the truth. And
therefore, will the Lord place them, as
the head of the nations ; and instead
of being compelled to labor and toil to
build the walls of Zion, and to take
care of their flocks and cultivate the
earth, the Lord will cause this to be
done by strangers. "And strangers
shall stand and feed your flocks, and
the sons of the alien shall be your
plowmen and your vinedressers. But
ye shall be named, The Priests of the
Lord: men shall call you, The Min-
isters of our God." (Isaiah 61 : 5, 6.)
The children of Zion having been
robbed and driven from county to
county and from state to state, and
even from the United States, and hav-
ing suffered the loss, time after time,
of their houses, and lands, and of their
hard earned labors, the Lord will
compensate them by giving them the
riches of the Gentiles ; hence, He
says "ye shall eat the riches of the
Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye
boast yourselves. For your shame ye
shall have double ; and for confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion :
therefore in their land they shall pos-
sess the double; everlasting joy shall
be unto them." (Isaiah 61: 6, 7.)
" Whereas thou hast been forsaken
and hated, so that no man went
through thee, I will make thee an
eternal excellency, a joy of many
generations. Thou shalt also suck
the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt
suck the breasts of kings : and thou
shalt know that I the Lord am
thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the
mighty One of Jacob. For brass I
will bring gold, and for iron I will
bring silver, and for wood brass, and
for stones iron." "Surely the isles
shall wait for me, and the ships of
Tarshish first to bring thy sons from
far, their silver and their gold with
them, unto the name of the Lord thy
God, and to the Holy One of Israel,
because he hath glorified thee." (Isa-
iah 60: 9, 15, 16.;
Contrast this glory, and honor, and
majesty, and greatness, and riches
with the past and present condition
of Zion; and then let her sons shout
LATTER-DAY ZION.
269
aloud for joy, and sing with gladness
of heart: though Zion is now small
and little, remember what the Lord
hath said concerning her : " A little
one shall become a thousand, and a
small one a strong nation : I the Lord
will hasten it in its time." (Isaiah
60 : 22J " Who hath heard such a
thing ? who hath seen such things ?
shall the earth be made to bring forth
in one day ? or shall a nation be born
at once ? for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children."
(Isaiah 66: 8.) Zion will become a
strong nation suddenly ; her increase
will be at once ; and they will return
to their waste and desolate cities
which the Gentiles have robbed them
of; and their former possessions will
be too" small for them. Then shall
the following words of Isaiah be ful-
filled "Thy waste, and thy desolate
places, and the land of thy destruc-
tion, shall even now be too narrow by
reason of the inhabitants, and they
that swallowed thee up shall be far
away. The children which thou
shalt have, after thou hast lost the
other," (that is after the other has been
driven out and forced to seek refuge
in the Rocky mountains,) "shall say
again in thine ears, the place is too
straight for me : give place to me that
I may dwell. Then shalt thou say
in thine heart : Who hath begotten
me these, seeing I have lost my child-
ren, and am desolate, a captive, and
removing to and fro ? and who hath
brought up these ? Behold, I was
left alone ; these, where had they
been?" (Isaiah 49 : 19— 21.; Their
waste and desolate places which were,
by mob violence, forcibly wrested
from them, not being sufficient to
contain the vast number of the saints,
they will spread forth into all quar-
ters' of the land. Then shall another
prophecy of Isaiah be fulfilled : " En-
large the place of thy tent, and let
them stretch forth the curtains of
thine habitations ; spare not, lengthen
thy cords and strengthen thy stakes ;
for thou shalt break forth on the
The desolate cities of the Gentiles,
which have been left desolate by the
great and terrible wars among them-
selves will in that day be inhabited by
the children of Zion ; for the children
of the " married wife " or of the Gen-
tiles who in ancient times became the
married wife, instead of Israel, will be,
because of wickedness, greatly dimin-
ished, while the children of the deso-
late, whom the Lord has for a small
moment apparently forsaken, will
speedily become a strong nation :
though barren, and a captive, wander-
ing to and fro, despised, and afflicted,
and tormented, and cast out into the
mountains and deserts, and hated by
the whole United States, yet the
words of Isaiah shall be fulfilled, and
Zion shall sing and forget the re-
proach of her youth. " Sing, O bar-
ren, thou that didst not bear, break
forth into singing and cry aloud, thou
that didst not travail with child : for
more are the children of the desolate,
than the children of the married wife,
saith the Lord." (54:1.) The child-
ren of Zion, therefore, will, in that
day, be more numerous than the na-
tion who has oppressed them, and
trodden them under their feet.
Hear another prophecy, "Thus
saith the Lord God, behold, I will
lift up mine hand to the Gentiles,
and set up my standard to the people :
and they shall bring thy sons in their
arms, and thy daughters shall be car-
ried upon their shoulders. And
kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and
their queens thy nursing mothers :
they shall bow down to thee with
their face towards the earth, and lick,
up the dust of thy feet; and thou
shalt know that I am the Lord : for
they shall not be ashamed that wait
for me. Shall the prey be taken from
the mighty, or the lawful captive de-
livered ? But thus saith the Lord,
even the captives of the mighty shall
be taken away, and the prey of the
terrible shall be delivered : for I will
contend with him that contendeth
with thee, and I will save thy child-
right hand and on the left : and thy i ren. And I will feed them that op-
seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and J press thee with their own flesh : and
make the desolate cities to be inhab- j they shall be drunken with their own
ited." (Isaiah 54: 2, 3.)
270
LATTER-DAY ZION.
blood, as with sweet wine : and all
flesh shall know that I the Lord am
thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the
mighty One of Jacob." (Isaiah 49 :
22—26J
From this prophecy, it will be seen
that the Lord commences His work
for the gathering of his people by
lifting up His hand to the Gentiles and
by setting up a standard to the people.
This work has already commenced
among this Gentile nation. He has
already lifted up his hand, by sending
among them a great prophet to bring
forth that sacred and holy Record —
the Book of Mormon, as a "standard
to the people." And the time is
close at hand when the kings and the
queens of the Gentiles will assist in
gathering many of the descendants of
Israel unto Zion upon this land, while
those of the house of Judah will flee
to their own land, even to Jerusalem,
where they will suffer many afflic-
tions and great chastisements, because
of their unbelief in the true Messiah;
but the believing of the other tribes
will gather to Zion, in America, where
they wdl remain until the full time
for their return to receive their ancient
inheritances in Palestine.
The American Indians, who are a
remnant of Israel, will gather to
Zion ; for they will believe in the
history of their forefathers, contained
in the Book of Mormon ; they will
repent of all their sins, and become a
righteous branch of the house of Is-
rael : and this work will be a speedy
work among them, resembling the
birth of a nation in a day ; and all
the promises that the Lord has made
to Israel and to the Latter-Day Zion,
will be realized by these remnants of
Israel in America. While their ene-
mies that have oppressed them will
be fed with their own flesh, and be
drunken with their own blood, as
with sweet wine; and all flesh, from
one end of the earth to the other,
shall know that it is the Lord who
has humbled the pride and haughti-
ness of this nation, and exalted the
remnant of Israel upon the land.
Then Zion shall be clothed in her
beautiful garments, and be armed
! with strength ; the bands of her neck
J shall be broken off, and she shall be
i free ; her ensign shall be lifted on
high to welcome the nations ; her
light shall be as the sun to enlighten
the world ; her tabernacles shall be
the dwelling place of the Most High ;
her dwellings shall be encircled with
glory : a cloud by day and a fire by
night shall be her defence; her walls
shall be called Salvation, and her
gates Praise. Violence shall no more
be heard in the land ; wasting nor
destruction within her borders. Then
America shall be called the land of
the Lord, the holy place of the taber-
nacles of the Most High : then shall
the fear of the Lord be upon all na-
tions, upon their kings, and upon
their princes, and upon their nobles,
and upon their rulers ; and all kin-
dreds and tongues shall see the sal-
vation of the Lord, and behold His
glory; and submit themselves to His
laws, for the whole earth shall be full
of His glory ; and God himself will be
in the midst of His people and reign
over all flesh.
But before that day shall come,
what sorrow — what mourning — what
lamentations will be heard in the
earth ! Nations shall rush fiercely on
nations — thrones be overturned —
kingdoms be removed, and the earth
will be soaked with blood. Every
nation under Heaven will be at war
except Zion. The city of Zion will
be the only place of refuge. There
shall be shelter from the furious
storms, and tempests, and whirl-
winds, that will agitate the nations
and toss them to and fro upon the
raging billows. There the righteous
shall find safety and dwell securely
in peaceable habitations ; and none
shall molest them or make them
afraid. Oh, that the people would
open their eyes and discern the signs
of the times! for if they will not
take warning, they must perish ! But
they rush blindly on, giving no heed
to the prophecies of the holy prophets,
nor to the voice of the Lord which is
kindly calling after them; nor to the
voice of His seivants, who are labor-
ing day and night to rescue them
UTAH.
271
from the coming evils ! The voice of
mercy falls listlessly upon their ears,
or is entirely lost in the confusion of
great Babylon ! Gladly would we
awake them to the sense of the aw-
ful dangers which threaten them ■, but
the slumbers of death have taken a
firm hold upon them, and they are
prepared for the slaughter, and to the
slaughter they will go.
Let the saints study the prophecies
diligently, and then look at the signs
of the times ; and they will see the
hand writing of destruction in broad
and legible characters written upon
all tbe thrones, and kingdoms, and na-
tions of great Babylon. Hear, then,
Oh ye saints, the great voice from
heaven, saying, " Come out of her, O
my people, lest ye partake of her sins,
and receive of her plagues ; for her
sins have reached to the heavens, and
God hath remembered her iniquities."
Therefore, flee ye, get ye out of the
midst of her! Stay not; tarry not,
lest while you linger, some sore ca-
lamity or sudden evil befall you. We
speak more particu'arly of the saints
in the United States. The destroyer
is sent forth to lay waste and destroy,
and his mission is to the nations
of Babylon, and he will not return,
nor cease, until he hath made a full
end.
UTAH
Our latest intelligence from Utah is j
np to the 12th of Dec. All things ap-
parently were in a prosperous condi-
tion. Two volunteer companies, un-
der the direction of Elder Orson Hyde,
had started in the month of Nov. to
form a settlement between one and
two hundred miles east of Salt Lake
City, on Green river. They were
well fitted out with farming utensils,
and every thing necessary for the
formation of a permanent settlement.
A colony formed in that vicinity will
be of great importance in rendering
aid and assistance to the weary emi-
grant, as he pursues his tedious and
lonelv track towards Oregon and Cal-
ifornia. The emigrating Saints will,
also, reap much benefit in finding set-
tlements of their own brethren near
two hundred miles east of their desti-
nation. It is to be hoped that this
little colony will flourish and prosper.
The Indians of the territory appear
to be more friendly than they were
a few months since. The massacre
of Captain Gunnison and party was
by a band of the Par-van-tes who
were highly exasperated by the brutal
conduct of a company of California
emigrants, under the command of a
man by the name of Hillsworth, who
had wantonly killed one of their num-
ber and wounded two others ; previ-
ous to this, that small tribe had been
friendly with the whites. The Saints
bave constantly studied the welfare
of the red-men, although they have,
in some few instances, been reluct-
antly compelled to defend themselves
against their depradations. The In-
dians in that territory, near our set-
tlements, are in a ten fold more pros-
perous condition than they were pre-
vious to the location of the Saints in
the country. Through the wise and
humane policy of Governor Young,
and of the people generally, there is
a bright prospect of extending civili-
zation and Christianity among the un-
cultivated and savage tribes of the in-
terior. Already many of their children
are being comfortably clothed and fed,
and are acquiring the first rudiments
of an English education. And it is to
be hoped, that not many years hence,
we shall see whole tribes laying aside
| the tomahawk and scalping knife, and
I pursuing the peaceful avocations of a
1 civilized life.
272
EXTRACT FROM GOV. YOUNG S MESSAGE.
EXTRACT
FROM GOVERNOR YOUNG'S MESSAGE TO THE LEGISLATURE OF UTAH.
Happily for Utah, she has no party
politics for her Legislature to discuss,
she can therefore lend her energies
for the benefit of the country, and
practicing that industry, so worthy of
imitation by the people, benefit them
by example, as well as precept.
Judging the future by the present
and past, unparalleled prosperity is
dawning upon us as a people. Health
and contentment universally prevail,
and the mountain breezes, and cool-
ing streams bring vigorous strength
and action. Nature's wilderness is
fast receding before the scythe, the
sickle, and the plow, and her swarthy
children keep company with the
mountain game, or retire with the
Buffalo of the arid and extended plain,
to make way, to give place for the
pale face, the citizen who inhabits
houses, and cultivates the ground.
Although far distant from the chan-
nels of the trade and commerce of the
world, and, moreover, isolated in a
great degree from the influence of her
society, yet it is a rich inheritance
which has been extended unto us,
and which in due time will, if rightly
improved, add a brilliant to the con-
stellation of nations illuminating the
northern hemisphere.
As hitherto, self-exertion meets her
own reward, and the laborer delves
with a certain prospect of success,
and the teeming earth yields forth her
fruits and grain, in rich abundance,
for the sustenance of the children of
her bosom.
Let us continue to cultivate the
arts of peace, and impart to the weary
wanderer comfort and consolation,
abiding in charily and benevolence
towards our fellows, whether found
in the forlorn wandering ignorance of
ages, or the enlightened bondage of
tradition and error.
Feeling to reciprocate for past kind-
ness and forbearance, 1 shall ever be
ready to participate with you in your
labors, hoping that our united exer-
tions may become advantageous, and
promote the interest, prosperity, rapid
growth, and advancement of the rising
State.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Utah Territory,
Executive Office
Dec. 12, 1853
1
CONTENTS:
New Revelation, 257
Zion of Enoch, , 261
Latter-Day Zion, 265
Utah 271
Extract from Governor Young's Message to the Legislature of Utah 272
WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY ORSON PRATT.
Jil $1 per annum, invariably in advance.
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He
lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.— Isaiah xvm, 3.
Vol. II.
JUNE", 18 54
No. 6.
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
BY THE EDITOR.
Among all the blessings which God
has promised to fallen man, there are
none greater than that of (he resur-
rection of the body to eternal life and
happiness. The life that we now en-
joy, though mingled with sorrow and
trouble, is still desirable and sought
after most eagerly by man. When
death stares him in the face, he would
be willing to part with thrones and
kingdoms, with houses and lands, and
with all his possessions, could he re-
deem himself from the grasp of this
awful monster. Many remedies have
been sought out and prescribed, not to
redeem man from death, but to shield
and protect him fora few years longer
from this fearful enemy. But no one
has been able to discover a remedy
that will render man immortal. All
are overtaken, sooner or later, by the
grim tyrant and prostrated low in the
dust. Generation after generation fall
beneath the mighty conqueror! Oh,
how dismal must be the thought of a
never-ending sleep in the tomb ! Death
must be bitter indeed, to those who
have no knowledge of the resurrec-
tion— who lay their bodies down
without the least idea of receiving
them again ; and yet, many hundreds
of millions have passed away without
the faintest hope of a future resurrec-
tion— who suppose that they part with
their bodies for ever.
Could man be fully persuaded that
his body would rise again from the
grave, and that he would live, and
move, and act, as he does now, and
enjoy the same that he now experi-
ences, he would consider it a blessing
far greater than earthly riches or hon-
ors ; and were he certain that such a
blessing could be attained, there would
be no sacrifice too great for him to
make in order to secure an immortal-
ity in a world that would afford him
no greater happiness than the present
one. If, then, in a world like this,
where troubles meet us on every side,
we still enjoy life, and so earnestly
cling to it, what would be our joy
were we assured of a resurrection to
an eternal life of the most perfect hap-
piness ? where no troubles or sorrows
could ever come ? where death could
no more enter? What tidings could
be more joyful to the soul than these ?
Now, the inhabitants of this fallen
world have been most positively as-
sured by the word of God, that their
bodies shall all live again — that they
shall be called forth from the dust and
be reorganized, and that the same spirts
which once inhabited them, shall re-
animate them again. This redemp-
tion of the body is not a partial one —
that is, the body is not merely re-
deemed from the grave to a life of
mortality subject to a second disso-
lution, but it is redeemed to immor-
tality— the spirit being re-united with
the body never more to be disunited.
The resurrection of the body from
274
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
the dust will be effected by the word
and power of God. The Spirit of
God which dwells in the elements,
will, by His command, bring them to-
gether,, depositing every particle in its
proper position, so as to form a per-
fect tabernacle ! The deformities ex-
isting in the mortal body, will not ap-
pear in our resurrection bodies; bat
all who are counted worthy to receive
a celestial body, will appear in the
image and likeness of the glorified
body of Jesus ; and his body is in the
express image and likeness of his
Father's person. Paul, in speaking of
the resurrection says, that Jesus "shall
change our vile body, that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious bodv."
(Philippians 3: 21.) Notwithstand-
ing we shall be fashioned like his
body, yet there will be a variety of
features and size by which one will be
distinguished from another, the same
as in this life. The likeness will be
in the general outlines — in the perfec-
tion of the organization — in the beau-
tiful adjustment of the several parts —
in the perfect symmetry of the whole
— and in the purity, immortality, and
glory with which it is filled and sur-
rounded. In all these respects there
will be a perfect likeness. But when
sizes are compared, there will be a
great variety from the tabernacles of
infants up through every grade to those
of gigantic magnitude. Although there
will be an endless variety of features,
yet all will appear equally glorious
and beautiful ; the beauty being the
result of the perfection and glory of
the spirit inhabiting the tabernacle.
There will undoubtedly be distin-
guishing characteristics relating to the
age attained previous to the dissolu-
tion. This distinction will probably
be manifested, in some small degree,
in the countenance and in the color of
the hair, and in the difference of size
between the child and the man of gray
hairs. In all the works of God, we
behold a resemblance among classes ;
but a variety among individuals belong-
ing to each class. All the planets of
our system resemble each other more
or less in form; but in magnitude and
in many other respects,, there is a
great variety. In every species of an-
imals and plants, there are many re-
semblances in the general outlines,,
and many specific differences charac-
terizing the individuals of each species.
So in the resurrection : there will be
several classes of resurrection bodies;
some celestial, some terrestrial, some
telestial, and some sons of perdition.
Each of these classes will differ from
the others by prominent and marked
distinctions ; yet in each, considered
by itself, there will be found many re-
semblances as well as distinctions.
There will be some physical peculi-
arity by which each individual in every
class can be identified.
Will the same identical materials
composing the mortal body be reor-
ganized in the resurrection body ? —
There will, be a sufficient quantity of
those materials brought forth to form
a perfect tabernacle for the spirit. But
it is not to be expected that every parti-
cle, which at any time has formed a
component part of the mortal body,
will be raised and enter into the im-
mortal one. Many persons by severe
sickness, lose from fifty to a hundred
pounds of flesh in the course of a few
months ; and after recovering, they
not unfrequently, in the course of one
or two years, regain as much flesh as
they lost. And in the course of a long
life, they may, by successive intervals
of health and sickness, gain and lose
from ten to fifteen hundred pounds
of flesh. Now it would be altogether
absurd to suppose that these ten or
fifteen hundred pounds of flesh are all
to be reorganized in the resurrection
body. The same reasoning will ap-
ply to the bones as well as the flesh,
for small pieces of bones may be ex-
tracted from the system, and by the
deposition of new matter, new bones,
or rather parts 'of bones, will be
formed ; and in the course of a long
life, there could be many pounds of
bone extracted by small pieces at suc-
cessive intervals from the human sys-
tem, and many pounds of new bone
formed to supply the place of the old.
Also, children shed their teeth, and
others grow in their stead. Now we
cannot suppose that in the resurrec-
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
275
lion, the old and new teeth, and the
old and new bones will all be raised
and enter into the composition of the
immortal body. Many persons cut oil'
over one-tenth of an inch of their
beard every week, which, in the
course of a year, will amount to over
five inches, and in the course of sixty
years, will amount to over twenty-five
feet. And those who are in the habit
of paring off the ends of the finger
and toe nails, will find that in the
course of sixty or eighty years, they
have actually cut off from each finger
and toe, from six to eight feet of nail.
If, therefore, all the old materials of
the human system are to arise, we
shall be favored with a beard and hair
from twenty-five to thirty feet long ;
with finger and toe nails, six or eight
feet long*, with two sets of teeth, and
with ten or fifteen hundred pounds of
flesh and bones. Such a supposition
would be ridiculous. We are, there-
fore, compelled to believe that in the
resurrection, each immortal body only
takes that quantity of the old materi-
als as is amply sufficient to form a
beautiful and perfect tabernacle for the
spirit.
It is believed by many scientific
men that our bodies are constantly
and gradually changing through the
whole of our lives, and that in the
period of from seven to ten years,
the whole body undergoes an entire
change ; the old particles having been
thrown off, and new ones having suc-
ceeded in their stead, and that the
reason why many old scars remain
during a long life is, because the new
particles in the gradual interchange,
take the position of the old, necessa-
rily perpetuating the shape of the scar
years after the old particles have fled.
It is pretended that this doctrine is es-
tablished by many indubitable eviden-
ces that cannot be shaken. If we
should admit this idea to be correct, it
would still further prove that in the res-
urrection all the materials of the mortal
body do not come forth ; for an old
man whose weight has been some two
hundred pounds the most of his days,
and having passed through ten entire
changes of the materials of his sys-
tem, would have had, during his life,
about one ton of flesh and bones that
has been successively deposited and
thrown off, and in the resurrection not
over one-tenth part of these materials
would be needed to construct the im-
mortal body. Therefore, whether we
admit the idea of a constant and grad-
ual change, or sudden changes, pro-
duced by successive intervals of sick-
ness and health, we are led to the
same conclusion, that only a part of
the old materials of the mortal body
will enter into the composition of the
immortal one.
Some persons have denied the pos-
sibility of the resurrection, on the
ground that among cannibals, where
they are in the constant habit of de-
vouring human flesh, one human body
is, in a great measure, formed out of
the component parts of many others.
And because the same particles have,,
at successive periods, existed in scores
of individuals, forming parts of each
successive tabernacle, they argue that
each individual has equal claim upon
the same identical particles. And as
the same particles in the resurrection
can only be organized in one body at
the same time, they reason that all
the others who have equal claims to
the same, would be lacking of the
necessary materials, and consequently
could not rise. If, in this argument,
the premises are granted, the conclu-
sions would be correct. But the
premises are false : for all flesh was
originally formed from earthly and
vegetable matter ; and though canni-
bals and carniverous animals grow and
increase, both in size and weight,
on flesh ; yet that very flesh, when
traced back through successive ani-
mals which have been devoured, will
be found to have originated in herbif-
erous animals whose flesh is wholly
composed of earthly and vegetable
substances. Now the amount of
vegetable substances, converted into
flesh, is not only equal to, but far
greater than the amount of animal
substances, converted into the flesh of
other animals. This is evident from
the constant change to which the
bodies of all animals are subject, ow-
276
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
ing to the removal of old particles,
and the deposition of new, as mani-
fested by a decrease or increase of
flesh, depending on the scarcity or
abundance of food. When we take
into consideration the whole animal
kingdom, nothing is more certain
than that the flesh, formed by de-
vouring other flesh, can never exceed
in weight the flesh formed from vege-
tables and earthly matter : indeed it
would be an absolute impossibility for
the former ever to exceed the latter.
And when we take into consideration
the calls of the appetite, and that
every animal, in the course of a very
few years, requires many times its own
weight in food, it demonstrates be-
yond all controversy that the amount
of flesh, formed from herbs and veg-
etables, must far exceed, by many
times its own weight, that formed
by devouring flesh; for were it not
so, the former would in a very few
months be wholly devoured by the
latter, and the earth would speedily
be depopulated of men and animals.
II, then, the amount of flesh, form-
ed directly from vegetable substances,
exceed, by an immense quantity, all
other kinds of flesh, it demonstrates
the fact, that in the resurrection the
whole hcrbiferous and carniverous
tribes of the land and water, includ-
ing fish, fowls, animals, and men,
could be raised up from the dust with
immortal bodies, constructed of the
same identical particles, or rather a
sufficient quantity of them, that once
existed in the form of mortal flesh ;
and still there would be an immense
quantity to spare, being surplus flesh,
arising from the constant mutations or
changes to which all mortal flesh is
subject.
We will venture to remark still
further, that should it be maintained
that even every vegetable of our globe
should be reconstructed and made
new, there would be an abundance of
materials that have once existed in
those vegetables to form them all
anew without making use of any for
eign matter that has not been thus
organized. This may, at first view,
appear impossible ; it may be 8Uj posed
that as the whole animal kingdom, if
raised to immortality, being composed
of vegetable matter, would require a
vast amount of the vegetable materials
to reconstruct their immortal bodies ;
and that, therefore, if the whole vege-
table kingdom was likewise to receive
a resurrection, it would require that
portion of its materials which con-
stitutes animal flesh. But this would
be unnecessary : for the same change,
which is said to be constantly taking
place in the animal body, is also af-
firmed to be a characteristic in the
vegetable economy. It is said that
every blade of grass — every herb and
plant, and every tree, is constantly
throwing off or parting with its old
particles, and that new matter is every
moment being secreted to supply the
place of the old. It is said that a tree,
as well as a man, undergoes an entire
change of materials every few years.
If this be the case, the whole vegeta-
ble kingdom, including those of every
age, might be reorganized out of old
vegetable particles, without interfer-
ing, in the least, with that portion of
vegetable matter which enters into the
animal economy ; and, also, without
being under the necessity of borrow-
ing materials from foreign sources,
that never were before vegetable con-
stituents.
Without coinciding with the views
of the scientific world in regard to the
constant and gradual change, operat-
ing upon all organic substances, by
which they are said to contain, in the
course of a long period, several times
the quantity of matter that they inherit
at any one time, we can still account
for the resurrection and reconstruction
of all organic bodies, both of the veg-
etable and animal kingdoms, by sup-
posing, that in the renewal of those
bodies, it is not absolutely necessary
that their whole systems should be
composed of materials which have
previously been thus organized. If
there be enough of the old materials
to form the germ or nucleus of the
resurrection body, it will not matter,
in our view of the subject, whether
the balance of the materials are the
old particles again collected, or foreign
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
277
matter, similar in kind, but not identi-
cal in substance. In the formation of
a drop of water, it would make no dif-
ference, whether it were composed of
the eight parts of oxygen and one of
hydrogen that it was previously com-
posed of, or whether the same propor-
tions of these elements were derived
from some foreign source where they
never had existed in combination as
water. Two drops of pure water —
one formed in Asia and the other in
America, would be composed of the
same definite proportions of their ele-
mentary constituents — would have the
same properties and qualities in every
respect ; and one could be changed for
the other without the least inconveni-
ence, and would subserve exactly the
same purpose in all experiments, con-
ditions, or circumstances to which it
might be subjected : and, therefore, the
original circumstances in which the
elements existed, would not have the
least bearing upon their present com-
binations and future purposes. If the
particles of the body, themselves, were
intelligent and accountable beings, they
then might, with some propriety, con-
tend that it was their right to be re-
organized into an immortal tabernacle
in connection with their old compan-
ions, and again be placed in conjunc-
tion with the same immortal spirit
that governed and controlled them in
their mortal career. But if those par-
ticles only exist as an organized taber-
nacle for the accommodation and hap-
piness of the immoital spirit, and they
themselves are not benefited, or re-
main insensible to their condition, then
it would make no difference, so far as
they are concerned, whether they were
reorganized in the bodies of men, or
brutes, or remain unorganized •, and it
certainly would make no difference to
the human spirit what particular par-
ticles its tabernacle was constructed
of, providing the organization was per-
fect and consisted of the right kind of
matter.
Paul compares the resurrection to
the growing up of grain after it is sown
and dies. " But some man will say,
How are the dead raised up ? and with
what body do they come ? Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quick-
ened, except it die : and that which
thou ^sowest, thou sowest not that
body that shall be, but bare grain, it
may chance of wheat, or of some other
grain : but God giveth it a body as it
hath pleased him, and to every seed
his own body. All flesh is not the
same flesh : but there is one kind of
flesh of men, another of beasts, another
of fishes, and another of birds." (1
Corinth. 15 : 35—39.) When a ker-
nel of wheat falls into the earth, it dies,
or rather a portion of its substance is
disorganized ; and the germ unites
itself with other materials, and forms
a stalk which heads, and blossoms,
and numerous other kernels of wheat
begin to make their appearance which
grow and ripen; and it is at length
found that sixty or a hundred other
kernels of the same, shape, size, and
quality, as the one sown, are produced.
Now these new kernels are not the
same identical materials sown : neither
is the one-hundredth part of the old
particles found combined in each of
the new : they are each composed of
almost entire new substance that never
was before organized as wheat : The
old particles were only necessary as a
foundation to give direction to the or-
ganization, that the new might be
moulded after the old, bearing the
same appearance, and possessing the
same quality. Hence the farmer sow-
eth not that body that shall be, but
he soweth its likeness; and other bodies
of the same form spring forth. So
likewise man sows not the body that
shall be, but he sows one containing
the form, and magnitude, and, in some
degree, the elements of the new. —
Without the sowing of the old wheat,
and its dissolution in the earth, the
new could not be expected : so also,
without our bodies are sown in cor-
ruption, there would be no foundation
for incorruptible bodies. And as the
new wheat is mostly composed of
new particles never before organized
as wheat; so, it is probable, that the
new immortal body will contain much
matter never before organized in hu-
man bodies.
"But God giveth it a body as it
278
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
hath pleased Him, and to every seed
his own body;" that is, God doth not
cause thorns to grow from figs, nor
wheat to spring from potatoes, nor
elephants to be produced from raus-
quitoes : but He giveth to "every seed
his own body," not the identical old
one, but one in its likeness in magni-
tude, form, and construction. UA11
flesh is not the same flesh : but there
is one kind of flesh of men, another
flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and
another of birds." When the ponder-
ous whale that flounces in the mighty
deep, is raised from the dead, he will
not take the form of the rhinoceros,
neither will the tiger, in the resurrec-
tion morn, put on the form of a shark,
neither shall we have wolves converted
into lambs, nor lions into cows ; but in
the resurrection, God will give to every
seed his own body ; not the identical
one, but a similar one, so that the dif-
ferent species of fish, fowls, and animals
will be distinguished from each other.
The springing forth of new grain
from the kernel of the old which falls
into the earth and dies, is analogous
to the resurrection only in those qual-
ities already named ; and this seems to
be as far as the apostle intended the
analogy to be carried when he made
use of the representation. The new
wheat, like the old, is subject to decay ;
but the new body is immortal and
eternal, and in this respect is unlike
the old. The new wheat is formed
through a gradual and rather lengthy
process of growth; while the immor-
tal body is organized at once of the
proper size and form : the former is
slow in its operation; the latter is a
(quick and sudden work, when com-
pared with the formation of the infant
through the process of generation, and
its gradual growth to manhood: and
•even when compared with the slow
process of the growth of grain, it may
be considered a quick and sudden
work. There is no doubt, but what
ihe resurrection will occupy a short
interval of time in the formation and
completion of the different organs and
frame work of the immortal body. It
will not be as sudden as a flash of
lightning, or as the twinkling of an
eye; neither will it be a prolonged
work, like that of the growth of vege-
tables, or the still slower growth of
animals.
Ezekiel describes the resurrection as
follows : " The hand of the Lord was
upon me, and carried me out in the
spirit of the Lord, and set me down
in the midst of the valley which was
full of bones, and caused me to pass
by them round about : and behold 1
there were very many in the open
valley : and lo ! they were very dry.
And he said unto me, Son of man,
Can these bones live ? And I an-
swered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon
these bones, and say unto them, O ye
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord God unto these
bones ; Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live : and
I will lay sinews upon you, and will
bring up flesh upon you, and cover
you with skin, and put breath in you,
and ye shall live; and ye shall know
that I am the Lord. So I prophesied
as I was commanded : and as I proph-
esied, there was a noise, and behold a
shaking, and the bones came together
bone to his bone. And when 1 beheld,
lo ! the sinews and the flesh came up
upon them, and the skin covered them
above: but there was no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto
the wind, prophesy, Son of Alan, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord
God; Come from the four winds, Q
breath, and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live. So I prophesied
as he commanded me, and the breath
came into them, and they lived, and
stood upon their feet, an exceeding
great army.'' (Ezekiel37: 1 — 10.)
From this vision of the resurrection,
we can see that it is not accomplished
in the twinkling of an eye : first the
bones come together, bone to its bone ;
and thus the foundation and frame-
work is laid ; secondly, the ilesh and
sinews come upon the bones; thirdly,
the skin covers the flesh and sinews;
and lastly, the breath enters them, and
they live and stand upon their feet. In
cases where the bones are decayed, as
well as flesh, sinews, and skin, the first
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
279
process will be to bring together the
particles and form the various bones,
after which they will be joined together
in their appropriate positions. The
formation of so many bodies directly
from the dust, will require a wisdom
and skill far surpassing our utmost
comprehension- but there will be
nothing more marvelous in this, than
there was in the formation of the tab-
ernacles of our first parents who were
constructed directly out of the dust, of
the full size and shape.
Indeed, all the immortal bodies of
flesh and bones are made independent
of the process of generation. All
fleshly bodies begotten and born are
mortal : all made directly out of the
dust, as Adam and Eve, and the first
fish, fowls, and animals, are immortal.
To organize a mortal body out of the
ground, independent of generation,
would be something unheard of, and
consequently, unnatural : So likewise,
to organize an immortal body of flesh
and bones by the process of generation,
would be something unheard of, un-
revealed, and consequently unnatural.
We call that natural which transpires
in a certain definite manner, so that
under the same circumstances, the
same event happens, according to the
same fixed laws. We call that unnat-
ural which happens out of the ordinary
course : for an immortal body of flesh
and bones to be born, would be un-
natural, because we have no account
of such an event ever happening, or
that such an event ever will happen:
but to form it directly from the dust
would be natural, because this is the
way that new revelation, as well as
old, informs us that all the first pairs
of fish and fowl, beast and man, were
first constructed ; and this is the way
that the resurrection is brought about.
There is nothing more marvelous
about the resurrection and reorganiza-
tion of all the generations of men and
animals out of the dust, than there is
in the generation of their mortal bod-
ies : the latter is just as miraculous as
the former. All the difference is, we
cease to regard the latter as a miracle,
because of the frequency of its occur-
rence; while the former, only having
happened at a certain period before
the fall, and, in a few instances, im-
mediately after the resurrection of
Christ, is regarded in the light of a
miracle. When all the righteous are
called from their graves at the second
advent of our Saviour-, and when,
during the Millennium, all the aged
that fall asleep in death, are immedi-
ately raised again to immortality, we
shall cease to call the resurrection
any thing more miraculous than the
formation of the mortal tabernacle by
generation. This method of calling
things unnatural or natural, miracu-
lous or not miraculous, according to
the unfrequency or frequency in which
the events happen, is extremely erro-
neous. Gravitation, by which a piece
of iron sinks in the water, is just as
miraculous as the causing of the same
to swim on water : the latter, how-
ever, is called a miracle because of
the unfrequency of its occurrence ;
and because it deviates from the
former mode of action, which, by its
constancy, is called a law of nature.
A deviation from this law is called a
miracle ; while the law itself, which
is still more marvelous, is looked up-
on as nothing but a common occur-
rence. A law of nature is the exer-
tion of the power of God upon the
materials of nature to make them act
all the time in a certain fixed definite
manner ; consequently a law of nature
is nothing less than the continued ex-
ertions of the power of God, accord-
ing to prescribed laws. A deviation
from the laws of nature is the exertion
of the power of God, contrary to His
general method of action : both are
the effects of the same power and of
the same God ; but of the two, the
laws of nature are the most astonish-
ing and the most marvelous, because
they are the displays of Omnipotent
power upon a more extensive and
grand scale. To see all the universe
acted upon at the same time, and
these actions continued year after
year without any interruption, is as-
tonishing beyond all measure ; it is
overwhelming and almost overpower-
ing to every contemplative mind ; but
to see a body spring fortli from the
2S0
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
dust, though it is certainly miracu-
lous, yet it is local in its character,
and only as it were a momentary ac-
tion, and in itself no more miraculous
than the springing forth and growth
of a blade of grass, or the falling of a
stone, or the intense power that holds
together the particles of a piece of
iron ; all these are the effects of that
same Almighty power that brings
forth the dead from their graves, and
stamps immortality upon all resurrec-
tion bodies.
The resurrection is a gift bestowed
upon all mankind. Because of the
fall the human race forfeited their
bodies and lost them ; but the Son of
God, having given his body to the
shafts of death, and suffered in man's
behalf, wrought out a full and per-
fect redemption for the bodies of all
the human family ; not a redemption
which immediately restores man to
immortality, but a redemption which
grapples with the monster death, after
he has overpowered his victim and
laid him low in the grave. Justice
armed death with eternal powers ; it
authorized him to destroy all nations
and generations, and plunge them into
the dismal gulf, and to set an eternal
seal upon them ; it gave him power to
bind them down with everlasting
chains which no man could loose ;
the huge gates were closed ; the bolts,
and bars, and locks, were firmly fast-
ened ; a world of fallen beings was
enclosed in the eternal prison of the.
grave; all nature wept! and eternity
was clothed in mourning ! while the
greedy monster death, having satiated
his capacious maw, sat enthroned up-
on the funeral pile exulting in the
eternal ruin of a once beautiful world!
But hark ! a voice is heard on high
of one mighty and strong ! It is the
voice of one who pleads ! Ah see !
He stands before the majestic throne,
where justice sits ! He weeps ! but
not for himself; it is for fallen man !
Listen ! he speaks of mercy for a
ruined world ! What compassion
swells his bosom ! what lovely words
poured forth in melting strains of
mercy ! Justice is moved to tears,
but still holds fast the flaming law.
and with sword unsheathed exclaims,
uHo\v can I show mercy ? must not
the penalties of my law be inflicted ?
and the honor of my throne be main-
tained ? " The merciful — the kind —
the Holy One, with bowels yearning
o'er the miseries of a fallen world,
replies, "On me, O Justice, let all thy
vengeance fall ! but spare these my
brethren ! " Mercy prevailed the
offer was accepted — and the only Be-
gotten of the Father left the peaceful
heavenly mansions of glory to suffer,
to die, to enter the solitudes of the
grove, to unbar the gates of death, and
break the everlasting chains, and say
to the sleeping nations, live.
Though all the human race will
eventually be liberated from the grave,
yet the righteous will be liberated
long before the wicked. When the
great Redeemer shall roll back the
curtains of heaven, and unveil his
glorious face, an angel shall sound his
trump, both long and loud, which will
cause the whole earth to quake : then
will the graves of the saints be open-
ed, and their sleeping bodies will come
forth, clothed in all the beauty and
freshness of immortality ; arrayed in
beautiful garments and white robes,
and encircled with pillars of light,
their glory will be as the dazzling
rays of the sun. These shall all be
caught up from the earth, and be
wafted from the four winds towards
the great central gathering place in the
clouds of heaven, where the Redeemer
will be seen, armed with Omnipotent
power, followed by the saints of all
ages, nations, and kindreds, accom-
panied by the angels and all the
armies of heaven. In the midst of
the numberless hosts will be seen all
the saints of the latter-days who shall
be alive on the earth at that time ; for
they also shall be caught up, as well
as the righteous dead ; and they shall
be quickened by the power of God.
And thus shall the whole combined
hosts of the righteous, of both the
heavens and the earth, be gathered in
one. Then shall the nations of the
wicked, who have not previously
been destroyed, gaze with awful fear
and terror upon the immense multi-
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
281
tude of glorified beings, filling all the
heavens above. And while they gaze
with frightful astonishment at the
glory, power, and majesty, displayed
in the heavens, another trump is heard,
calling forth another class who have
received their part in prison, where
the gospel has been preached to them
that they might be judged according
to men in the flesh. These are not
Christ's until his coming, but then
they are redeemed, being brought
forth from their prison houses by the
power of the Lamb.
While the terror-stricken nations
still behold, they hear the sound of
the third trump, calling forth the
spirits of wicked men who are to be
judged, and who are not found worthy
to receive their bodies, until the thou-
sand years are ended, and who are to
be cast out into outer darkness, where
is weeping, and wailing, and gnash-
ing of teetii. After which the fourth
trump will proclaim the dreadful doom
of the sons of perdition. When the
spirits of the dead have been attended
to. and sealed over unto the end, to
reap the results of their own evil do-
ings, then shall the fifth angel sound
his trump in the ears of the frightened
nations still living, proclaiming that
the hour of God's judgment is come :
then shall the arm of the Lord fall
upon them; and the fierce and vivid
lightnings shall streak forth, and the
thunderings of his power shall shake
the earth and heavens, and the nations
of great Babylon shall be cast down
by devouring fire ; and the hills and
mountains shall melt like wax at the
presence of the Lord, and the earth
shall be purified of its wickedness,
and the saints shall receive their in-
heritances on the same, and the poor
and the meek shall be comforted, for
the fatness of the earth and all the
fulness thereof shall be theirs.
The saints who have received their
immortal bodies from the grave, will
each receive a crown immediately
after their resurrection. Some have
supposed that the saints would not
be crowned until after the Millennium,
and the earth passes away, and the
new heavens and new earth are made.
But Jesus says, " Verily, verily, I say
unto you, and it hath gone forth in a
firm decree, by the will of the Father,
that mine apostles, the twelve which
were with me in my ministry at Jeru-
salem, shall stand at my right hand at
the day of my coming in a pillar of
fire, being clothed with robes of right-
eousness, with croirns upon their heads,
in glory even as I am, to judge the
whole house of Israel, even as many
as have loved me and kept my com-
mandments, and none else ; for a
trump shall sound both, long and
loud, even as upon Mount Sinai, and
all the earth shall quake, and they
shall come forth : yea, even the dead
which died in me, to receive a croicn
of righteousness, and to be clothed
upon, even as I am, to be with me,
that we may be one.'' (Doctrine
and Covenants, Sec. 10, par. 3.)
From this quotation we learn that
the crowns are to be on the heads of
the apostles and of the resurrection
saints in the day of the Lord's com-
ing, and that they will not have to
wait one or two thousand years long-
er before they receive their kingdoms.
If the apostles have crowns placed
upon their heads immediately after
they obtain their bodies, they will
most unquestionably each have a
throne. When Jesus was with them
in his ministry at Jerusalem, he made
them the following promise : " Verily
I say unto you, that ye which have
followed me, in the regeneration when
the Son of Man shall sit in the throne
of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel." (Matthew 19 : 28.)
These twelve thrones will not merely
be thrones of judgment, but they will
be thrones of kingdoms, as we are in-
formed in a parallel passage: "Ye
are they which have continued with
me in my temptations. And I appoint
unto you a kingdom, as my Father
hath appointed unto me ; that ye may
eat and drink at my table in my king-
dom, and sit on thrones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel." (Luke 22 :
28-30.) As the twelve tribes of Is-
rael, or that portion of them who are
righteous enough to come forth in the
282
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
first resurrection, will receive their in-
heritances in the land of Palestine :
the twelve apostles will, no doubt,
have their thrones located in Jerusa-
lem, after it is rebuilt. John, the
revelator, in describing the appearance
of that city, as he beheld it in vision
descending upon the new earth, says,
it " had a wall great and high, and
the wall of the city had twelve founda-
tions, and in them the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb." (Rev.
21 : 12, 14.) Jerusalem, then, will be
the residence of these twelve kings :
there their thrones will be located,
upon which they will sit and judge
the tribes. When the great and high
wall is built around it, the names of
each of these twelve king's will be
most beautifully engraved upon the
twelve great foundation stones.
At what time the wall will be built
is uncertain : the commencement of
the building of the city will be just
prior to the coming gf the Messiah
and the Millennium : it will undoubt-
edly be continued under the superin-
tendence of Jesus and his apostles,
during the whole of that peaceful and
happy period. It is very probable that
the wall will be about the last thing
built ; this will be thrown around the
city to prevent the apostate nations
after the thousand years are ended
from encroaching upon the holy and
consecrated place. We are told by
the prophet Isaiah, that Jerusalem
shall put on her beautiful garments
and become a holy city, and that from
"henceforth there shall no more come
into her the uncircumcised and the
unclean." (Isaiah 52 : 1.) To pre-
vent the intrusion of wicked characters
when Satan shall be loosed, a high
wall will be built; it will also serve as
a splendid ornament to the city, the
gates being formed of the most costly
and magnificent pearls, while the twelve
foundation stones will each be differ-
ent, and each will be garnished with
all manner of precious stones ; and the
light of the glory of God shining upon
them, will give the whole r most bril-
liant and dazzling appearance.
The Lord has promised that this
city, after it is rebuilt, " shall not be
plucked up nor thrown down any 'more
for ever." (Jer. 31 : 38—40.) Con-
sequently, when the old earth passes
away, and the new one is formed out
of the old materials, it will be neces-
sary for the preservation of the city to
take it up from the earth into the
heavens, where it will remain until the
new earth is fully completed, when it
will descend as the great capital and
seat of government over the new cre-
ation, where Jesus and his apostles
will continue to reign over the House
of Israel for ever and ever.
But to return again to the sceneries,
connected with the first resurrection.
We have already ascertained, that the
apostles after their resurrection will
have crowns, and thrones, and a king-
dom given to them ; and that Jerusa-
lem, where they formerly suffered
shame, and affliction, and persecution,
will be their residence, where their
mansions, and their palaces, and their
thrones, will be erected ; and that the
resurrection saints, included in the
twelve tribes of Israel, will be judged
by them, or in other words, be ruled
and governed by them, as their lawful
kings.
Jesus will also have his throne
erected in Jerusalem : for he will reign
over the house of Israel ; and the apos-
tles, in the exercise of their kingly
office, will be subject to him. The
angel said to Zacharias concerning
Jesus : " He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest : and
the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David : and he
shall reign over the house of Jacob for
ever; and of his kingdom there shall
be no end." (Luke 1 : 32,33.) The
throne of Jesus will be erected in the
magnificent temple, described by the
prophet Ezekiel in the last chapter of
his prophecy. " Afterward he brought
me to the gate, even the gate that
looketh toward the east : and, behold,
the glory of the God of Israel came
from the way of the east : and His
I voice was like a noise of many wa-
' ters : and the earth shined with His
i glory." " And the glory of the Lord
[ came into the house by the way of the
, gate whose prospect is toward the east.
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
283
So the spirit took me up, and brought
me into the inner court; and, behold,
the glory of the Lord tilled the house.
And i heard Him speaking unto me out
of the house ; and the man stood by
me. And He said unto me, Son of man,
The place of my Throne, and the
place of the soles of my feet, where I
will dwell in the midst of the children
of Israel for ever, and my holy name,
shall the house of Israel no more de-
file, neither they, nor their kings."
(Ezekiel 43 : 1, 2, 4-7. Whether the
twelve apostles will have their twelve
thrones in the same temple, or in sepa-
rate palaces, is not stated.
The dwelling places of many of the
resurrection saints will be in the same
city: others of them will have their
mansions erected in other cities, and
upon their farms and inheritances
throughout the land of Canaan. Eze-
kiel, as we have already noticed, had
a view of their resurrection : he saw
their bones united ; he saw the flesh,
sinews, and skin, placed in their proper
position ; he saw the breath enter them,
and that they lived and stood upon
their feet an exceeding great army,
And not fully understanding who or
what people they were, the Lord gave
him further instruction, as follows : —
"Then He said unto me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of
Israel," (meaning no doubt the right-
eous among them, for the wicked will
not be favored with a resurrection at
the time of the righteous;) " behold,
they say, Our bones are dried, and our
hope is lost: we are cut oft" for our
parts." No doubt the house of Israel
in Ezekiel's time, were in great fears
and doubts, about the fulfilment of the
promises made to their fathers : they
could read in their sacred books that
the righteous of Abraham's seed were
to inherit that land for ever; and yet
they saw that many holy prophets and
righteous men of Israel died in foreign
lands in captivity. And having no
knowledge that the promise could be
fulfilled after death, they contended
that many had died without receiving
the proinise, and that their bones were
dry and mouldering in their graves,
and that those righteous persons never
inherited a foot of the promised land :
and seeing all this, they exclaimed in
despair, "Our hope is lost: we are
cut oft* for our parts." The Lord in
order to show them that the promise
was still sure, gave Ezekiel this vision,
and showed him how Israel should
inherit the promise after the resurrec-
tion. Hence, the Lord commanded
him to prophesy to those bones or to
the whole house of Israel in their se-
pulchres, "•and say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord God; Behold, O my peo-
ple, 1 will open your graves, and cause
you to come up out of your graves
and bring you into the land of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have opened your graves, O
my people, and brought you up out of
your graves; and shall put my spirit in
you, and ye shall live, and I shall
place you in your own land : then
shall ye know that I the Lord have
spoken it, and performed it, saith the
Lord." (Ezekjel37: 11-14.)
All the righteous of the twelve
tribes are to have their graves opened,
and they are to come up out of their
graves an exceeding great army. And
Oh, what joy will fill their bosoms,
when they find themselves in posses-
sion of that very land, where the
tribes of Israel once lived— the land
where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived
as strangers and pilgrims I How joyful
it will be for Abraham, Sarah, Hager,
and his other concubines to find them-
selves dwelling again in the land of
their pilgrimage ; and to see the nu-
merous hosts of their immortal chil-
dren all around them. Jacob and his
four wives will gaze upon the descend-
ants of their twelve sons, and see them
spread out upon the face of the land,
like the stars of heaven for multitude.
How these ancient fathers and mothers
of the hosts of Israel, will rejoice to
gather around them their descendants
to the hundredth generation and relate
to them the sceneries of their childhood,
and point out to them the places
where they pitched their tents— where
they built their altars— where they
called upon the Lord in mighty prayer
where angels descended and com-
forted them— where the God of glory
284
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
appeared and gave them great promises,
concerning their seed forever ! How
delighted will all the generations of
their children be, to visit the mansions
of these glorified patriarchs and eat
and drink with them, and realize that
death can no more separate them, but
they shall dwell in the land of Israel
for ever !
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have
already received their crowns, and their
thrones, and now sit upon them, (see
Revelation in No. 1, vol. 1 of the Seer,
paragraphs 11 and 14,) being exalted
among the principalities and powers
of the heavenly worlds ; and they look
forward with longing anticipations, to
the time when all their righteous chil-
dren shall come out of their graves,
that they may return to the land of
Canaan, and reign on the earth, as they
now reign in the heavens. As these
ancient patriarchs now sit upon their
thrones, it is evident that they must
have received their resurrection imme-
diately after the resurrection of Christ.
Matthew says, that " The graves were
opened, and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of the
graves after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto
many." (-Matthew 27 : 52,53.) The
Book of Mormon bears testimony that
many of the saints in ancient America
arose from the dead, and appeared to
many on this land. All those who
then arose have undoubtedly received
their crowns, and have been sitting
upon thrones, and reigning as kings in
the heavens, from that day to this.
Their redemption has been perfected,
but they wait for the redemption of
their children to be perfected also,
until which, they cannot return to
their promised inheritances upon the
earth.
America, being the land of Adam,
and the land of Enoch, and the land of
the Jaredites,and the land of the branch
of the tribe of Joseph, and the land of
the Gentiles who are now upon the face
thereof; will be the promised land of the
righteous of all those nations and gen-
erations, even as the land of Palestine
is to the righteous of the twelve tribes.
And in the first resurrection, the right-
eous who have dwelt on this land, will
again inherit it in their immortal state.
The twelve American disciples of
Jesus whom he chose, soon after his
resurrection, at the time he showed the
remnant of Joseph his risen and glori-
fied body, will also sit upon twelve
thrones to judge the righteous upon
this land who are of Israel : and these
twelve will be judged by the other
twelve at Jerusalem : or in other words,
they will be guided and directed by the
advice and counsel of the twelve apos-
tles in all the important affairs pertain-
ing to their kingdom and government
in America.
One of the most important persona-
ges whose throne will be established
in America, will be Adam, the father
of the human race. He will reign over
all the other kings upon the face of the
whole earth, under the counsel and
direction of the Holy One : Jesus alone
will have the pre-eminence over him.
Adam, therefore, will stand forth as the
grand Patriarch and chief Prince over
all the righteous of his posterity. This
promise was made to him three years
previous to his death by the mouth of
the Lord who appeared to him, and
the righteous of his posterity, in the
grand council, held in the valley of his
residence, called Adam-Ondi-Ahman,
near the western boundaries of Mis-
souri. This venerable Patriarch was
called Michael the arch-angel, or the
head angel. He is called in Daniel, " the
Ancient of days," being the most an-
cient personage who lived in days —
the first flesh formed from the dust of
the earth. Having received the eter-
nal priesthood which includes the
kingly power, he received a crown
most glorious, and sits upon a throne
highly exalted in the eternal heavens,
awaiting the period when the corrupt
thrones of earthly monarchs shall be
cast down, when he will be sent from
heaven to earth, accompanied by thou-
sands on thousands of glorified beings,
to make ready and prepare all things
before the Son of Man, who Avill come
with the clouds of heaven, and present
himself before the ancient of days,
even Adam, who will stand forth as
the head representative of the earthly
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
2S5
kingdom and present it to his great
Redeemer, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords : then will the kingdom of
heaven and the kingdom of God on
the earth become one.
It is Michael the arch-angel who
sounds the seventh trump, and pro-
claims the finishing of the great pre-
paratory work for the reign of his
Saviour: it is Adam or Michael who
holds the keys of the mysteries
of the mighty works of God which
are to be accomplished during the
seventh lh.ou.saud years, or Mil-
lennium ; and he will proclaim the
same, at the second sounding of his
trump, in the ears of all living: it
is he who is to "stand forth upon the
land and upon the sea, and swear in
the name of him who sitteth upon the
throne, that there shall be time no long-
er;*' it is he that will lead forth all
the armies of heaven, against all the
armies of the combined hosts of hell,
after the close of the Millennial period,
and the Devil and his armies will be
overcome, and they will be cast into
their own place where they will not,
henceforth, have power over the saints
any more at all.
The throne of this great and illus-
trious personage will most probably
be in America — the land of his pil-
grimage, and the land of his fall; the
land where first the glad tidings of
redemption reached the ears of mortal
man.
The throne of Enoch will also be
in or near America, in the midst of his
own city, Zion, which he built unto
the Lord before the Hood, and which
fled from earth to heaven, to be re-
served until a day of righteousness
should come, when it will come again
in the sight of the astonished nations,
and have place, until the end shall
come. This city will, most probably,
not rest upon the earth but hover over
it, and will be the abode of glorified
immortal beings : hence we read that
when the aged die, during the Millen-
nium, they are not buried in the earth,
but they are immediately raised to im-
mortality, and are caught up where
their rest is glorious. This proves
that there will be aglorified place above
the surface of the earth to which these
aged people ascend after they are
raised. This place is undoubtedly the
city or Zion of Enoch in connection
with other redeemed cities which the
Lord has taken from all the creations
which He has made. The Zion of
Enoch, therefore, will probably be
very near the earth, located over the
American continent where it was an-
ciently built; and, most likely, will
partake of the diurnal and annual rev-
olutions of the earth, so as not to
change its relative position in regard to
the western hemisphere of our planet.
We have spoken of Jesus and the
twelve apostles having their thrones in
Jerusalem, and of the resurrection
saints, connected with the twelve
tribes of Israel, receiving their inher-
itances in the land of Canaan : but
these are only their earthly thrones
and their earthly inheritances; besides
theso, they will have heavenly thrones
and heavenly inheritances, not con-
nected with the earth, or rather, not
standing upon the earth, but in the
redeemed cities and glorified- worlds
above. Therefore, these celestial Kings
and Priests, and resurrection Saints
will only visit their earthly kingdoms,
and sit upon their earthly thrones, and
occupy their earthly mansions, and
dwell upon their earthly inheritances,
at intervals, whenever they feel dis-
posed, and whenever they think it
necessary for the welfare and benefit
of the earthly and mortal inhabitants.
That the Father, and Son, and all
the children of God will have thrones
and kingdoms in the heavens eternally
as well as upon the earth, is clearly
revealed in many parts of scripture
both ancient and modern. In the
second epistle of Mormon to his Son
Moroni, he closes thus: "And may
the grace of God the Father, whose
throne is high in the heavens, and our
Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the
right hand of His power, until all
things shall become subject unto Him,
be, and abide with you for ever."
God the Father has a throne high in
the heavens. The prophet Mormon
in his sermon on Faith, Hope, and
Charity, speaks of Christ thus : " He
advocateth the cause of the children
of men ; and he dwellcth eternally in
286
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
the heavens?'' And in speaking of the
three Nephites who were never to taste
of death, but who received a partial
change, he says, that in the judgment
day of Christ they are to receive a full
change from mortality to immortality,
and " be received into the kingdom of
the Father to go no more out, bill to
dwell with God eternally in the heav-
ens?'' The same idea is clearly ex-
pressed in many other revelations,
from which it is plain that the earthly
thrones and kingdoms are but a small
portion of the vast dominions and
blessings of the righteous.
In a revelation given through Joseph
the Seer in March, 1S32, the Lord sets
forth a pattern for His servants in re-
gard to being equal in temporal things,
that they might become equal in heav-
enly things. He says, "Through my
providence, notwithstanding the tribu-
lation which shall descend upon you,
that the Church may stand indepen-
dent above all other creatures beneath
the celestial world, that you may come
up unto the crown prepared for you,
and he made Rulers over many king-
doms, saith the Lord God, the Holy
One of Zion." Thus we see that there
are many kingdoms, besides those
pertaining to the earth, over which the
faithful servants of God will be made
rulers. In this same revelation the
Lord says uhe that is a faithful and wise
steward shall inherit all things?'' (Doc.
& Gov. Sec. 76.) Again, the' Lord
says, concerning His faithful servants,
that " he that is ordained of God and
sent forth, the same is appointed to be
the greatest, notwithstanding he is
least and the servant of all : wherefore,
he is possessor of all things, for all
things are subject unto him, both in
heaven and on the earth, the life and
the light, the spirit and the power, sent
forth by the will of the Father, through
Jesus Christ His Son ; but no man is
possessor of all things, except he be
purified and cleansed from all sin ;
and if ye are purified and cleansed from
all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you
will in the name of Jesus and it shall
be done." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 17:6.)
From these quotations, it will be
perceived that the children of God who
are purified from all sin are to be made
equal one with another in earthly and
heavenly things — that they are to pos-
sess the light and the life, the spirit
and the power; that all things are to be
subject unto them both in heaven and
on the earth — and that they are to in-
herit all things. In section Seventh,
paragraph thirty-third, we are informed
that the saints are to be made equal
with Christ immediately after their
resurrection ; and in the vision, we are
told that they are to be made " equal in
power, and in might, and in dominion?''
How, it may be asked, will the saints
be made equal " in dominion? " We
know not, unless it will be by each
one inheriting all things : if all the
thrones, and kingdoms, and worlds
throughout universal space, should be
the inheritance of God the Father, and
of His Son, and of each of His children
who attains to a fulness of celestial
glory ; then it might with propriety,
be said that they were equal " in Do.
minion :" if one ruled over a greater
number of worlds than another, it
would appear not only to destroy the
equality " in dominion,'''' but the equal-
ity " in ■power?'' and the promise of all
things, and of the inheritance of all
things would seem to be void. Jesus
in his prayer to the Father says, " And
all mine are thine, and thine are mine?''
(John 17: 10.) Again, Jesus says,
" Ml things that the Father hath are
mine?"1 (John 16 : 15.) Hence we
perceive, that the Father inherits all
things, that Jesus inherits all that the
Father does ; and that the saints are to
be equal with Jesus and be joint heirs
with -him in all his possessions, and to
sit down with him on his throne, even
as Jesus sits on his Father's throne
and exercises almighty power in his
kingdoms : consequently all glorified
worlds that have been, that are, and
that ever will be, appear to be the
common property of all saints who
attain to the fulness of the glory of
the celestial world. Herein consists
the perfect oneness between the Father,
Son, and all his Saints. The Saints
will be as perfect as the Father and
Son are perfect; they will be as pure
as they are ; they will receive a fulness
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
287
of all truth — even a knowledge of " all
things as they are, as they were, and
as they are to come." They will be
"equal in power, and in might, and in
dominion," they will "inherit all
things ;" they will be crowned over
all the kingdoms of our God' All
principalities and powers, whether in
heaven or in the heaven of heavens, in
the heights above or in the depths be-
neath will be subject to them. Each
one will be God in all the fulness of
His glorious attributes, swaying al-
mighty power over all, and in all, and
through all things. Then we shall
know that we are in God and God in
us ; otherwise, we could not abound ;
then we shall know that there is but
one God so far as the attributes are
concerned, and that He dwells in an
infinity of tabernacles ; and that He has
prescribed laws to govern Himself in
all the tabernacles which He inherits,
and that He acts in and through each
tabernacle according to His own laws ;
and the fulness of His attributes in one
tabernacle will not act in opposition to
the fulness of His attributes in another;
but He will act in all His dwelling
places in harmony with Himself.
Now, we are but parts of God,
dwelling in different tabernacles, and
we are required to gain other parts ;
and if we abide in the law ordained for
our government, God will impart more
of Himself; hence Jesus says, "Inas-
much as ye have received me, ye are
in me, and I in you." When we have
received him in fulness, it prepares us
to be joint heirs with Him in the in-
heritance of all things It is this ful-
ness of God in each tabernacle that in-
herits al lthings — that possesses all
things — that exercises power over all
things — that reigns over all, erecting
His thrones upon all glorified worlds,
and giving Himself universal dominion
wherever He may dwell whether in
one tabernacle or in the whole.
The earth, as we have already stated;
will be one of the glorified kingdoms,
where the resurrection saints will re-
ceive their inheritances, and their
thrones; but during the Millennial
period, they will not dwell so con-
stantly on their earthly thrones as on
their heavenly ones. After the earth
has passed away and been made new,
and becomes a glorified and celestial
world, it will be crowned with the
presence of God the Father, and it will
be the dwelling place of numerous tab-
ernacles of God ; for though each in-
herits all things, no one can be in two
places at once, so far as the tabernacle
is concerned ; therefore the glorified
earth will be the homestead of those
saints who have previously inhabited
it; while the saints of other glorified
worlds who also inherit all things,
will have the respective worlds to
which they belong as their everlasting
homes or head quarters. Thus God
by His attributes, inhabiting an infinity
of tabernacles, dwelling on numberless
| worlds, can be in them all at the same
moment, and thus be Omnipresent.
While if it were not for this arrange-
ment, He could only be on one world
at a time. Oh, how great and marvel-
ous are the ways of the Almighty!
How wonderfnl are His doings! He
organizeth for Himself dwelling places
in all glorified worlds that He may
abide in them for ever! He maketh
them beings independent in the highest
sphere, and yet by His wisdom He
subjecteth them to the same celestial
law and uniteth them as one !
When the resurrection saints have
attained to all this fulness of glory,
and have become exalted as gods upon
their eternal thrones, there will be no
possibility of their falling, any more
than there is of the fall of the Father
and Son. Therefore the inhabitants
of all inferior kingdoms, over whom
they reign, will look to them with
the same confidence that we now look
upon the Lord our God. And God,
that is in each, will proclaim Himself
to all his creations as the only wise
God, that besides Him there is none
else, and that He is from everlasting
to everlasting, His works having no
end, neither beginning.
Notwithstanding we have spoken
of the saints jointly inheriting all
things, yet there will, undoubtedly,
be strict and unchangeable laws regu-
lating this joint inheritance, by which
no one will be permitted to infringe
288
NOTICE.
upon the rights of others ; these laws
being established upon the strictest
principles of justice and equity, from
which there will be no deviation.
Each will be appointed to take the
immediate charge of particular or
specified portions of the joint inherit-
ance, over which he will more imme-
diately rule : though the whole is the
inheriTai'wje of each, yet each cannot,
in his own* person, be every where
present to govern and rule over the
whole: therefore each will have his
family, and particular kingdoms, and
worlds assigned him to p-overn and
control, so that, the great, universal,
and infinite inheritance may be prop-
erly managed for the beneiit of its
joint owners. This will be a grand
co-partnership, embracing the inhab-
itants of all glorified worlds who have
attained to the fulness of celestial
glory.
Though the saints are all "equal
in power, and in might, and in do-
minion," so far as the universal joint
inheritance is concerned, yet, we sup-
pose, that they will be unequal in re-
gard to the extent of the allotted por-
tions of the joint inheritance assigned
to the management of each. This
ineqiality probably arising from the
nature of their callings and their right-
eousness in this life. To illustrate
this, we will suppose that all the in-
habitants of Utah were united togeth-
er in a firm or co-partnership, in
which each individual should be con-
sidered as having equal privileges, or
in other words, each individual should
be called the possessor and owner of
the whole capital invested. Jf this
capital were appropriated to every
species of useful business throughout
the territory, it is evident that branch-
es of business assigned to individuals
would be very unequal : some requir-
ing a hundred fold more of the joint
capital than others, and some would
be entrusted, from the nature of the
business, with a hundred fold more
responsibility than others ; but not-
withstanding this great inequality in
the multiplied branches of industry,
in the extent of the responsibility, and
in the amount of the joint capital en-
trusted to some in comparison with
others, yet when the whole capital is
taken into consideration, they are all
equal; for each one possesses the
whole ; each one has equal powers in
regard to the whole ; each one inher-
its all things, included in the great
general capital.
Now let this general capital be in-
finitely enlarged, so as to take with-
in its scope all glorified worlds in
boundless space, that now is or that
ever will be, and the same principle is
equally applicable : it accounts for the
inequalities in some things, and the
equality in others ; it reconciles the
apparent contradictions which some
have supposed tq exist in the revela-
tions of heaven : it shows how we
can " inherit all things," and be made
" equal in power, and in might, and
in dominion,''' and at the same time be
very unequal in the distribution of the
management of different portions of
the joint inheritance.
NOTICE.
We have forwarded to our subscril*rs in the States and Provinces other publications in connection
with the 4th number of the present volume, sufficient to compensate them for their future half year's sub-
scription. This is the last Number which will be issued in this country. The remaining six Numbers
will be published in England. Those wishing to procure the bound volumes of " ( >. Pratt's .Works,"
a . btain them through the mails, at any time hereafter, by forwarding $1.50 to \. V. Farr, Post Box
3 • ;. St. Louis, Missouri. Postage, if paid in advance, IT cents : if not prepaid, 23 cents. Those desirous
Ol s tpplying themselves with any of the books mentioned in our Catalogue, should forward their orders
between this and the 1st of May, as we expect to leave for Utah in May.
CONTENTS:
Resurrection of the Saints, ; 273
Notice, tm 2H8
;. WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.
EDITED AtfD PUBLISHED BY ORSON PRATT,'
Jit %\ per annum, invariably i?i advance, .
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